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The Branner Geological Library
►
LEUND-SIAHFOKDiIVMOR-IMVHraTr
PBOCftEDINGS
v j r ■ 0F THK
PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY
OF GLASGOW.
VOL. XI.
4
MDCCCLXXVII-MDCCCLXXIX .
PUBLISHED FOR THE SOCIETY BY
JOHN SMITH AND SON,
129 WEST GEORGE STREET, GLASGOW.
1879.
SiS'JiS
GLASGOW:
PRINTED BY ROBERT ANDERSON
M ANN STREET.
• :'• .. :-: r; : : ••; .•: .•. • • ■ .• .-. ••• • .
v •: :/• .•:•••:; : • • ••• : : •: • r. : y
• • • •»••• •■.. •« 2 .' r • * ••»•••• • • •
CONTENTS OF VOL. XI.
On the Resonanoe of Cavities. By Sir William Thomson, LL.D.,
D.C.L., F.R.S., President of the Society 1
On some Specimens of 8teel. By Mr. James R. Napier, F.R.S., Vice-
President, 2
On some of the more Striking Relations of Meteorology to Public Health.
By Mr. Alexander Buchan, Secretary of the Scottish Meteorologcal
Society, 3
On the Comparative Prevalence of Filth-Diseases in Town and Country.
By James B. Rnssell, M.D., Medical Officer of Health, Glasgow, . ' 8
On the Regeneration of the Sulphur employed in the Alkali Manufacture,
as conducted at the Works of Messrs. Charles Tennant & Co., St.
Rollox, by the "Mactear" process. By James Mactear, F.C.S.,
London and Paris, 34
On an Improved System of Alakli Manufacture. By James Mactear,
F.C.S., London and Paris, 44
Observations on the Contraction of Muscle on Stimulation of Nerve. By
John Barlow, M.B., M.R.C.S.E., Muirhead Demonstrator of Physio-
logy, University of Glasgow, 49
An Experiment on the Disinfection of Enteric Excreta. By John
Dougall, M.D., F.F.P.S.G., Lecturer on Materia Medica in the
Glasgow Royal Infirmary School of Medicine, 51
Physical Life. By Andrew Buchanan, M.D., President of the Faculty
of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow, and one of the Vice-Presi-
dents of the Glasgow Philosophical Society, 53
Discussion on Dr. Buchanan's Paper, 37
On the Chemical and Microscopical Analysis of an Unsound Wine. By
Mr. Jas. R. Napier, F.R.S., and Professor J. G. M4Kendrick, M.D., 93
Discussion on Paper by Mr. Napier and Dr. M'Kendrick, 96
Lichens growing on Living Leaves from the Amazons. By Dr. J. Stirton, 99
The Constitution of Malt Liquors, and their Influence upon Digestion
and Nutrition. By J. J. Coleman, Esq., F.I.C., F.C.S., .112
Discussion on Mr. Coleman's Paper, . ^ 127
On the Necessity of a General Measure of Legislation for Scotland with
regard to Public Health. By W. C. Spens, Esq., Advocate, Sheriff-
Substitute of Lanarkshire 129
Discussion on Mr. Spens' Paper, 144
Experiments on the Relative Specific Gravities of Solid and Melted
Metals, &&» at the Temperature of Fusion. By Joseph Whitley,
Esq. — Communicated by Dr. Henry Muirhead, .... 145
Notes on some of the Testing Operations involved in carrying out the
Provisions of the Alkali Acts 1863 and 1874. By James Mactear,
F.C.S., F.I.C., 150
On a New Genus of Rugose Corals from the Carboniferous Limestone of
Scotland, with a short sketch of the various methods by which it
has been attempted, during the last twenty years, to delineate the
internal structure of Fossil Corals of that Geological Period. By
Mr. James Thomson, F.G.S., Corresponding Member of the Royal
Society of Sciences of liege, and Honorary Member of the Royal
Ducal Society of Jena, 161
Pauperism and the Poor Law. By Mr. Andrew Wallace, Inspector of
Foot, Go van Combination, 177
Discussion on Mr. Wallace's Paper, 192
On the Genus Cyathaxonia and several New Species from the Carboni-
ferous Limestone of Scotland. By Mr. James Thomson, F.G.S.,
Corresponding Member of the Royal Society of Sciences of Liege,
Belgium, and Honorary Member of the Royal Ducal Society of Jena, 193
iv* Contents.
PACK
On a New Method of determining for several Thousand Years in advance,
the Day of the Week corresponding to any given date. By Mr.
James Dickson, 257
On Purifying the Glasgow Harbour, and rapidly removing the Sewage.
By Mr. Horatio K. Bromhead, A.R.I.B.A., Glasgow, 267
Discussion on Mr. Bromhead's Paper 276
Eleven Centuries of Chemistry. Address on resigning the Presidency
of the Chemical Section. By Mr. John Ferguson, M.A., Professor
of Chemistry in the University of Glasgow, 281
On the Absorption of Gases by Water and other Fluids. By Mr. James
Snodgrass, Senior Assistant, "Young" Chair of Technical Chem-
istry, 300
New and Rare Lichens from India and the Himalayas. By Dr. James
' Stir ton, F.L.S. , . . . . • . . . . 306
On a New Genus of Rugose Corals, from the Carboniferous Limestone
Mr.
Science Society
Member of the Royal Dacal Society of Jena. ..... 323
of Scotland. By Mr. James Thomson, F.G.S., Corresponding
Member of the Royal Science Society of Liege, and Honorary
The "Graham Lecture, " on Molecular Mobility. By Mr. W. Chandler
Roberts, F.R 8., Chemist of the Mint 345
Physiology of the Turkish Bath. By Mr. W. J. Fleming, M.B., 365
Remarks on the Use of the term "Force." By Dr. Henry Muirhead.
Cambuslang, Vice-President, 370
Some Researches on the Reactions involved in the Leblanc Process of
Alkali Manufacture. By Mr. James Mactear, F.C.S., F.LC, Presi-
dent of the Chemical Section, 374
On the Liquefaction of Gases. By Mr. J. J. Coleman, F.I.C, F.C.S., . 399
On the Objectivity of Energy. By Dr. Henry Muirhead, Cambuslang,
Vice-President, 408
On House Drainage and Ventilation. By Mr. W. P. Buchan, F. R . S. S. A . .
Sanitary Engineer, 414
On the Modern Manufacture and Application of Steel. By Mr. J. G.
Fairweather, C.E., F.S.A., Ac, Assistant Professor of Civil En-
Ceering in the University of Edinburgh 454
iations in the Magnetic Constituents of Minerals. By Mr. J. B.
Hannay, F.R.S.E., F.C.S., 481
On a New Method of Physico-Chemical Investigation. By Mr. J. B.
Hannay, F.R.S.E., F.C.S.,* 484
On Certain Changes occurring during Fossilization. By Mr. J. B. Hannay,
F.R.&.L., F.t.o., ..... ..... 488
On the Heating and Ventilation of Turkish Baths. By Mr. J. L.
Bruce, I. A. , . . . . . 493
Scheme for the Removal of the Sewage of Glasgow and the adjoining
Burghs. By Mr. Alexander Frew, Civil Engineer, Glasgow, . 507
On the Action of Phosphorctted Hydrogen on the Animal Organism.
By Dr. John Clark, F.C.S., 517
On Magnetic Iron Sand from the Kyles of Bute. By Mr. R. R. Tatlock,
F.R.S.E.,F.C.S 519
Minutes, including Reports on State of the Society and on the Library,
Treasurer's Accounts, and Reports from Sections, . 209, 521
Office- Bearers of Society and Committees of Council, 230, 554
Office-Bearers of Sections, 232, 556
Obituary Notices, . 558
Additions to the Library, 234, 504
List of Members of the Society 247, 575
Index to Volume XL, 5S5
Constitution of the Society, End of Volume.
•• • N
PROCEEDINGS
OF THE
PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY OF GLASGOW.
SEVENTY-FIFTH SESSION.
I. — On the Resonance of Cavities, By Sir William Thomson",
LL.D., D.C.L., F.R.S., President of the Society.
[Read before the Society, November 21, 1877.]
[Abstract.]
Sir William Thomson pointed out, in the first place, that the
general principle upon which the influence of the resonance of
cavities depends is, that the air within a cavity is so limited as
regards its mass, that it is capable of acquiring definite vibrations
analogous to those of a musical string. A short sketch of the
general character of the vibrations of a musical string, as well as of
columns of air within pipes, was then given, and the connection
between these modes of vibration and the harmonic tones to which
they give rise was explained.
The effect of a vibrating body upon the mass of air within a cavity
in its vicinity was then described and illustrated experimentally.
It was shown that, when the fundamental note of the vibrator cor-
responds with the time of vibration of the air within the cavity,
that air is forced into a state of vibration, and the note emitted by
the cavity goes to reinforce that of the vibrator itself On tho other
hand, when the note of the vibrator is far from corresponding with
the time of vibration of the air within the cavity, a comparatively
small effect is exercised by tho vibrator upon the latter. The
Vol. XL— No. 1. b
*• • «
Jfyiio'sophical Society of Glasgow.
• «•'
• i
inference waa/tfeiice drawn that cavities must have the power of
selecting frcftrf-o, multiplicity of notes those which correspond with
their own ;*n>o*des of vibration, and this conclusion was also proved
by experiment.
The beaYing of these principles upon the production of the vowel-
80unJs'«and of speech generally was then explained, by showing that
tlte/tajcal chords play the part of vibrators, and that the cavity or
AJjJVities above the larynx reinforce such overtones of the vocal
chords as are in unison with one or more of the modes of vibration
. "v of the air within these cavities.
The paper was brought to a close by an explanation of the musical
notes produced by a glass tube open at both ends, and in the interior
of which a small hydrogen flame is burning.
II. — On some Specimens of Steel.
.By Mr. James R. Napier, F.R.S., Vice-President.
[Read before the Society, November 21, 1877.]
[Abstract.]
Mb. James R. Napier exhibited some severely tested specimens
of a very homogeneous metal manufactured by the Steel Company
of Scotland. The specimens had been mostly folded so as to form
four ply or leaves, and were hammered flat. They showed
remarkable toughness, no flaw or defect being visible. One
specimen, a steel bowl about 7 inches in diameter, which had been
originally a disc of 9 inches diameter, had been brought to its
present form by being forced cold through a ring of about G? incites
diameter by means of a punch of about 2] inches diameter. It
also showed no defects, and sounded as a bell when struck. Its
gradual deflection during the process of being forced through the
ring is shown in the following table as well as the behaviour of
a similar disc of iron.
Mr. Buchax on the Relations of Meteorology to Public Health. 3
Bulging Tests.
Plates 0 inches diameter forced through a ring 6} inches diameter ;
diameter of punch 2£ inches at point.
Iron pUte, thickness 019 inch.
Steel plate, thickness 018 inch.
Tons.
Deflection.
Tons.
Deflection.
o
0-395 inch.
2
0 312 inch.
3
0-480 „
3
0437 „
4
0750 „
4
0*520 „
5
0-875 „
5
0-687 „
6
Burst.
6
0812 „
8
1-030 „
10
1-250 „
12
1-375 „
14
1-500 „
16
1-687 „
18
1*812 „
20
1-937 „
22
2187 „
Mr. Napier added that if our ships were made of such material
the old rocks would be less feared than they are, and collisions
-would be very much less disastrous in their results.
III. — On Some of Hue more striking Relations of Meteorology to Public
Health. By Mr. Alexander Buchan, Secretary of the
Scottish Meteorological Society.
[Read before the Society, December 5, 1877.]
[AB8TRACT.]
The paper was a resume of an extensive inquiry carried on by
Dr. Arthur Mitchell and the author, together with important
continuations of the same subject that have just been completed.
It was illustrated by a large number of carefully-executed diagrams,
exhibiting the principal results obtained during the course of
these investigations into the mortality and weather returns during
thirty years for London and for all the other large towns in the
4 Philosophical Society of Glasgow.
British Islands for which weekly returns are at present available.
After a general reference to the curves for the whole mortality,
for the mortality for different ages, and for the mortality from
different specific diseases, the curves for diarrhoea, scarlet fever,
and whooping-cough were discussed with some minuteness of
detail. The curve for bowel complaints, for instance, was shown
to be low everywhere from October to June; but in July, August,
and September it shot up to an alarming height — amounting in
some cases to 500 per cent, above the average; and this curvo
showed further that diarrhoea and British cholera on the one
hand, and dysentery and Asiatic cholera on the other, formed
themselves into two distinct groups. The inference was thenco
drawn that the diverse character of these curves was due to the
various degrees of deepseatedness in the system of these diseases.
The curvo was then separated into different ages, from which it
appeared that nearly the whole of the deaths, amounting to more
than 80 per cent, of the whole, occurred among infants under
one year; the deaths in youth and middle-age being singularly
few, but showing a considerable increase among tho aged. It
was further shown that the summer excess of the whole mortality
disclosed by the curves of all the large towns was entirely due
to deaths from bowel complaints. The influence of exceptional
seasons on this class of diseases was strikingly shown by a
reference to London for the three summers 1859-60-61. In 1859
the summer was exceptionally hot, and in that year the diarrhoea
curve rose to an exceptional height; tho summer temperature of
1860 was, on the other hand, exceptionally low, and the deaths
from diarrhoea were by far the lowest of these years ; while the
summer of 1861 was of an ordinary temperature, and the deaths
from this disease were of the average amount. The thirty years'
curves for whooping-cough and scarlet fever were broken up into
curves for five years' periods, and it was shown that each of these
presented the same characters as the original curves, all the
prominent phases being alike, the agreement in time being almost
to a week, and the only difference consisting in the degree of
virulence of the disease. Further, the curves for these two
diseases as regards the other large towns agreed in all their main
features. It was thence inferred that there is something connected
with the weather of spring which tends to reduce the mortality
from scarlet fever, and so to stamp it out, but that, on the other
hand, there is something connected with late autumn weather
under which this disease attains its maximum fatality. A similar
Mr. Buchan on the Relations of Meteorology to Public Health. 5
conclusion was also drawn with respect to whooping-cough, which,
however, attains everywhere in Great Britain its maximum severity
in early spring, and its minimum severity in autumn.
Mr Buchan concluded his interesting and valuable paper as
follows : — " These facts brought before you suggest inquiries into
the public health which call for the most serious attention.
Diarrhoea, bronchitis, scarlet fever, and whooping-cough are per-
haps the four diseases which more instantly call for attention,
from the alarming fatality accompanying them, from the serious
consequences often following in the cases of those who recover,
and lastly from the implicit and intimate obedience they show to
weather influences. As regards diarrhoea, one of the first steps
to be taken is- to ascertain by registration whether the infant
mortality be equally distributed among all infants, however nursed,
or whether it be not rather very unequally distributed, according
as they are nursed at the breast, fed on cow's milk, or fed on slops.
The unusually low temperature of December, 1874, largely in-
creased the death-rate everywhere over the British Isles, — notably
in Glasgow — from bronchitis and other diseases of the respiratory
organs, and from many diseases connected with the nervous system
and the skin. The gross number of deaths registered in the
different British large towns showed that the excess of deaths
thereby caused was very unequally distributed. If there had
then been anything like an adequate system of registration for
the large towns, it might have been possible, reasoning from the
specific diseases most fatal at each place, to lay the finger on those
local conditions inimical to health to which the high mortality
in each place was due. During December, January, and February
the mortality among females rises to 11*2 per cent, above the
average, whereas among males it only rises to 7*8 per cent. But
inasmuch as the mortality as regards sexes is not given by the
Registrar-General for the different causes of deaths, and for the
different ages, it is impossible to say how much of the excess
during the coldest months of the year is due to sex, how much
to occupation, and how much — say, to their boots or other fashions.
Thus a comparison of the meteorological with the mortality returns
shows in a striking manner the influence of particular types of
weather in largely increasing or diminishing the number of deaths
from particular diseases. Periods of unusual cold, for instance,
combined with dampness in the end of autumn, have a propor-
tionally increased mortality from scarlet and typhoid fevers; of
cold with dryness in spring have an increased mortality from
6 Philosophical Society of Glasgow.
brain diseases and whooping-cough ; of cold in winter have an
enormously increased fatality from all bronchial affections ; and
of heat in summer present a startling, and, in many cases, an
appalling death-rate from bowel complaints."
In moving a vote of thanks to Mr. Buciiax for his kindness in
putting before the Society the results of so much arduous investi-
gation,
The Chairman remarked, that amongst our scientific societies
none appeared to deserve or to require more assistance than the
Scottish Meteorological Society, and he expressed the hope that it
would receive such public support as would allow it to prosecute
still further researches of national importance.
In answer to several questions regarding the extraordinary
fatality from bowel complaints in Leicester,
Mr. Buchan said that a Commission had made a careful inquiry
into the circumstances of that town, and had found that the
mortality in question prevailed principally among the families of
the well-paid artisans, and was comparatively slight among the
upper classes, and amongst the very poor. It was also found by
the Commission that the two latter classes of the community dwelt
in parts of the town where the soil was sandy, and where the rain
got well away, while the diseased portions of the town were upon
clay. He also said that it did not appear that the high mortality
amongst children in Leicester was due to the employment of
mothers in factories.
Councillor W. R. W. Smith was inclined to attribute the marked
differences in the death-rates from bowel complaints in the various
towns to the quality of the water supply in the cases cited. In
corroboration of his view he referred to the history of cholera
in Glasgow in connection with the introduction of (1) Gorbals
gravitation water, and (2) of Loch Katrine water.
Mr. James Thomson, F.G.S., was also inclined to regard the
mortality in the different parts of Great Britain as in a consider-
able degree due to the water supply. He instanced the fact that
the three towns on Mr. Buchan's list, Plymouth, Bristol, and Edin-
burgh, having the lowest mortality from bowel complaints, were all
situated on the lower carboniferous rocks, and he therefore thought
Mr. Buchan on the Relations of Meteorology to Public Health. 7
it probable that in the warm months of the year the lime absorbed
by these waters exercised an important cleansing effect upon the
organic matters contained in them, and so contributed to their
healthfulness.
Dr. Andbew Buchanan expressed the opinion that while the
results brought forward by Mr. Buchan were very interesting and
valuable, still it must be remembered that weather formed but one
item in the list of causes of disease, referring for illustration to the
climates of Great Britain and India.
At the request of the President,
Mr. E. M. Dixon, the Secretary, stated that the light which ho
was able to throw upon the prevalence of diarrhecal diseases during
the hot period of the year lay in the figures obtained during the
present summer with respect to the varying amount of nitrogenous
organic matter in the air at six points in Glasgow. According to
the analysis that had been constantly carried on from the month of
May up to the present time, it appeared that a steady increase in
the amount of organic matters had taken place at all the stations
along with the increase of temperature, and that now, when the
temperature is falling, the amount of these matters is also decreas-
ing. In proof of these statements Mr. Dixon quoted the numerical
results which he had obtained. Referring to the station under ono
of the arches of Jamaica Street Bridge, he showed that the organic
matter in the air there obtained was less than that found in the
air in crowded parts of the city; and while throwing out the sug-
gestion that the comparative purity of the air over the river during
the past summer might have been due in great measure to the
copious rains, which had washed out the harbour, and to the low
temperature, which had probably prevented the decomposition of
organic substances in the river, he pointed out that the evidence, if
taken as it stood, tended to show that the air of the city was more
polluted by overcrowding than by the impurities of the river.
Mr. Buchan suggested an explanation why they might expect
the air below the arches of the bridge to be comparatively pure,
instancing the effect of a river in the way of creating a draught of
air above itself.
Mr. Mayer said the probability was some part of the mortality
of Leicester and other inland towns was due to the use of fish
8 Philosophical Society of Glasgoic.
during the hot period of the year, which could not be brought there
in a perfectly fresh state.
Dr. Morton referred to the great importance of a complete*
system of registration of disease, and showed how every individual
might contribute to that end.
. IV. — On the Comparative Prevalence of Filth-Diseases in Town and
Country. By James B. Russell, M.D., Medical Officer of
Health, Glasgow.
[Read before the Society, December 19, 1877.]
Mr. President and Gentlemen, — My first duty is to thank the
members of the Sanitary Section of the Philosophical Society for
making me their President, and so enabling me, from the elevation
of that position, to address the parent Society to-night. Sanitary
Science is not one which progresses by its principles or basement
facts being the property of a few. The intelligence of the majority
will always mark the farthest limit of sanitary advancement.
Every opportunity, therefore, afforded to a man in the official
position which I have the honour to occupy, of imparting informa-
tion to the general public, should be welcomed. Therefore, apart
from the personal honour, I value my elevation to the presidency
for its useful opportunity.
The thought has probably occurred to many of you — how little
do we know of the contemporary prevailing diseases and general
health of Scotland at large. There arc eight little areas within
which all is made luminous from week to week by the Registrar-
General's returns, and in some cases by the reports of local officials*,
but outside, over the general surface of the country, all is darkness.
Unless when an epidemic in the country discloses itself by sending
some sparks into the midst of a largo town, or when a local corre-
spondent is sufficiently independent of local influences to let the
truth out in a city newspaper, the mass of the public have no
opportunity of ever knowing what is going on. Even officials liko
myself, whose business it is to have such knowledge, must wait
for three or four years until the Annual Detailed Report of the
Dr. J. B. Russell on Filth-Diseases in Town and Country. 9
Registrar-General appears, when we can only make the same use
of the facts as we can of the plagues of the Middle Ages — hold them
up as a warning to future generations.
I wish to-night to give you some information about extra-urban
Scotland. There are some diseases whose gravity is not to be
measured by the number of persons they kill in comparison with
many other diseases, but by the sanitary and social meaning or
their prevalence. They are indicative, it may be, of social de-
moralisation, or of general sanitary slovenliness and neglect, and
are often the single exactly measurable item of a widespread injury
to health and loss of life. For this reason I have chosen a class of
diseases which are a delicate index of the cleanliness of a com-
munity, though they are not a measure of all the evils flowing out
of uncleanliness ; and I propose by them to test the comparative
success of town and country in getting rid of their excreta without
the production of disease. A word is necessary on the selection or
our test diseases.
The condition of health of a community is the ultimate outcome
of a vast number of circumstances acting and reacting upon one
another, co-operating with or neutralising one another. It is vain
therefore to seek, by selecting one circumstance, and by setting
against it the total result of all, to establish a relative variation and
probable causal connection. A physical condition such as that of
density of population, covers such a range of effects upon the prime
elements of health, to which it gives short and convenient expres-
sion, that we can safely conclude as to the causal connection between
it and health ; but we can only do so intelligently when we by
analysis isolate those effects. Other physical agents, such as chemical
vapours in large towns, so coincide in their line of action with
other factors of disease, that it is impossible to prove their deleteri-
ous influence, and equally impossible to prove that they have no
such influence. But the relation between some diseases and their
causes is so precise and well ascertained, that the existence of the
cause may be detected by the presence of the disease ; and this is
the case with the specific filth-diseases. Not that the uncleanncss
associated with them produces no other injury to health than those
diseases. It co-operates with the general array of causes which
make an unhealthy community, but the effects to which we refer
are of such a nature that without forces in some form there could
be no such effects ! Although alvine excretion were absolutely
abolished in a community, there might still be typhus fever, scarlet
fever, measles, hooping-cough, but there could not be enteric fever
10 Philosophical Society of Glasgow.
or cholera, and probably not diphtheria. Whatever influence the
mismanagement of this form of tilth may have upon the propagation
of those diseases, with the origination of which it has nothing to
do, is so immaterial and insignificant in relation to the great pre-
dominant laws of their propagation, as practically to be incapable of
separate estimation. But with the propagation as with the origina-
tion of such diseases as enteric fever, diphtheria, and cholera, the
position is exactly reversed — the faecal arrangements are every-
thing. The correctness of this position being granted, it follows
that it is not by appealing to the statistics of zymotic disease in tho
mass that we can arrive at accurate conclusions as to the merits of
tho fiecal arrangements of communities, not as they might be, or
ouglit to be, but as they are.
I select diphtheria and enteric fever as the two purely fiecal
diseases which are most widely distributed over this country.
Diarrhoea is also in many cases the result of fiscal contamination
of water and air, but it is so largely also a result of certain dietetic
errors in the upbringing of infants, especially in large towns, that
the statistics of its prevalence cannot safely be applied to the pur-
pose in hand without laborious collateral check-inquiries. Indeed,
my observations lead me to this general conclusion as to the mean-
ing of a diarrheal death-rate — that if infantile chiefly, as it is in
all manufacturing communities, it points to serious social evils —
evils which pervade the home — the prevalence of illegitimacy, or
causes such as female labour, or the domestic disorganisation of
drunkonness, which practically place even the legitimate child in
the same circumstances as the illegitimate. I found, on an analysis
of the deaths under one year in Glasgow, during a period of six
months, that 63 per cent, of the legitimate were suckled, and only
14 per cent, of the illegitimate ; but still more important was the
discovery that of the legitimate but unsuckhd infants, no less than 69
per cent, died of diarrhoeal and other diseases of nutrition, and of
the illegitimate 68 per cent.; while of the legitimate but suckled infants
only 45 per cent., and of the illegitimate but suckled 43 per cent,
died of those diseases — a closeness of agreement, in the manner
of their death, which warrants my assertion that the want of
maternal nourishment and the greater general care and solicitude
bestowed by a nursing mother upon her child, really places both
the legitimate and the illegitimate infant upon the same platform,
and that one which tends to death by diarrhoeal and allied
diseases.
On the other hand, I believe that a high adult diarrhoeal death-
Dr. J. B. Russell on Filth-Diseases in Town and Countiy. 11
rate indicates most probably an impure water supply. My reasons
for this belief are derived from the experience of Glasgow before and
after the introduction of Loch Katrine water. We had in this
alteration in one of the most important health-factors of a com-
munity, made at a precise time, one of those rare opportunities of
observing an effect upon health under circumstances of almost
experimental accuracy. The result was this — Taking three periods
of time, the first under the old water supply, of six years, from
1855 to 1860, allowing the latter year for the effecting of the
change; the second under the new, from 1861 to 1870; and the
third from 1871 to 1876, for the sake of comparison. The diarrhceal
death-rate at all ages fell from 136 to 81 per 100,000, and I may
say the effect was immediate, even in the first year. But this
improvement was confined to the population above five years of
age. There the death-rate fell at once from 62 to 28 in the first
period, and still further to 24 in the most recent period ; while, on
the contrary, the infantile death-rate was 409 immediately before,
411 immediately after, and 463 in the most recent period. I fear
we must look deeper than our water supply, or any other general
physical condition, for the explanation of this rise in the diarrhceal
death-rate among Glasgow children. It makes me doubt whether
the children of the working classes have benefited by their pros-
perity, or whether they have not rather suffered by the consequent
self-indulgence of their parents.
I have said enough to show that in the aggregate diarrhoea is not
a cause of death which can be safely introduced in this portion of
our present inquiry. Cholera, again, is in this country wholly an
epidemic disease, dependent for" introduction upon circumstances
incident to traffic with infected ports, trade or immigration, water,
&c, upon which I hope, during the currency of this session, the
Secretary of the Sanitary Section, Dr. Christie, will contribute
from the abundant stores of his personal knowledge. This being
so, the insanitary conditions favourable to its spread may be equally
present in two districts, and yet to the one the seeds of cholera may
be brought and not to the other. On the other hand, enteric fever
and diphtheria are endemic; their specific germs are very generally
diffused, so that their activity is a very safe indication of the pre-
sence, and accurate measure of the degree of the presence of condi-
tions favourable to their development.
"We cannot in Scotland go far back with our statistics of death in
the form of a national register, which is the only safe source of
information. The Scotch Registration Act came into operation in
12 Philosophical Society of Glasgow.
1855 ; but diphtheria was not distinguished as a cause of death by
the Scotch Registrar-General until 1857.* Enteric fever was not
distinguished from the general class " Fever " by the Scotch
Registrar-General until 1865.f There are therefore no statistics
available regarding those test diseases until those comparatively
recent dates.
Before proceeding to deal with those statistics, I must make
another preliminary remark in explanation of the definition of
diphtheria and enteric fever. It has been customary to classify
croup with diphtheria in our local statistics, the reason being that
they are sometimes difficult to distinguish, and may therefore be
occasionally confounded by mistakes in diagnosis. I am satisfied,
however, after the close scrutiny of the circumstances surrounding
those diseases, as classified from the registrar s books, necessitated
by this inquiry, that they are distinguished with sufficient accuracy
to give them in the mass a perfectly distinct character, and there-
fore a perfectly distinct sanitary meaning. Croup has all the
features of the class of acute diseases of the respiratory organs. I
hope to make this apparent to you later on, and therefore employ
diphtheria alone for our present purpose. Then, as to enteric fever,
I have added to the deaths specified by that name those classified as
infantile fever. It is now universally admitted that the diseases
are the same.
From the first publication of the vital statistics of Scotland, the
Scotch Registrar-General has made a most useful and intelligent
attempt to subdivide tho country into statistical groups of districts
which would illustrate " the influence of locality on the prevalence
and fatality of different diseases." £
From 1855 to 1871 only three such groups were instituted.
Theso were called the Insular, the Mainland-Rural, and tho Town
Districts. They are thus described in the Census Report for 1861,
and it will bo necessary for you to remember it, so as to understand
tho statistics to be brought beforo you. "Tho Insular group of
Districts consists of Orkney, Shetland, and Bute, with the insular
districts of Ross and Cromarty, Inverness and Argyle. The Tow?i
Districts embrace all tho towns with populations above 10,000
inhabitants, as well as the suburban districts of Govan and
Barony, and the Coatbridge district of Old Monkland; whilo
the Mainland- Rural Districts consist of the remainder of the
• By the English in 1859. f By the English in 1869.
X First Annual Report, 1855, p. 11.
Dr. J. B. Eussell on Filth-Diseases in Town and Country. 13
Mainland Districts of Scotland not included in the town dis-
tricts." *
This arrangement was maintained until the census of 1871, when
it was found that many of the towns had grown into a class by
themselves, distinguished by their magnitude from the rest, while
many villages had grown into towns, and so must be excluded from
the mainland-rural districts. Accordingly the three groups were
expanded into five, of which the following is the description, to
which also your attention is required : — "Group I. Tfie principal
towns (eight in number), each containing at least 25,000 inhabitants;
group II. The large towns, each containing not less than 10,000,
nor more than 25,000 inhabitants ; group III. The small toums,
each with at least 2,000, and not more than 1 0,000 inhabitants ;
group IV. The Mainland-Rural Districts, from which are of course
excluded all towns with 2,000 or more inhabitants ; group V. The
Insular Districts, which include the whole population of the islands
on our coasts, but from which are of course excluded the inhabitants
of the four small towns — Kirkwall, Lerwick, Stornoway, and
Rothesay." f
Now let me direct your attention to the diagrams (Plates I. —
III.), on which is depicted the history of diphtheria and enteric
fever, so far as recorded in our national death-registers, year by
year, in those subdivisions of Scotland. The town districts are
black, and the other districts are indicated by difference of
shading. The year is marked at the head of each group of
columns, and the black bar drawn across each group shows the
mean for all Scotland in each year. The height of each column
represents the proportion of deaths per million of the population,
as does the position of the black bar. It was necessary to adopt
this unusual scale because all the death-rates with which we have
to deal, if expressed in the usual way, per 1,000 of population,
would be less than one, and the majority of the differences would be
in the second decimal.
Look first at the diagram which represents the yearly death-rates
from Diphtheria (Plate I.) This is much more interesting and
valuable than the corresponding diagram of enteric fever, inasmuch
as it shows the whole history of that disease as an epidemic since
its reappearance in this country. The Registrar-General tells us, —
Diphtheria first showed itself in an epidemic form in Scotland in
<t
• Census Beport, 1861, vol ii., p. ix. For detailed list of districts in each
group, see p. lxv.
t Report of Census, 1871, vol. L, p. xi.
14 Philosophical Society of Glasgow.
1857, but only in a few isolated spots, having apparently no con-
nection with each other, and chiefly in sequestered rural situations, in
some of which tiie sanitary condition was very bad" * Observe, then,
that it first attacked the rural districts, not the towns; and we may
add that this was not a feature peculiar to Scotland. In England,
also, at the same time, it first appeared and first spread epidemically,
not in the cities of England, but in the hamlets and country
districts.
Observe, first, the position of the black horizontal bars, which
show that from 1857 the epidemic rose gradually until it reached
its acme in 18C8, from which it fell slowly to a point of almost
uniform prevalency in 1867 to 1870. Since then it has risen steadily
until 1873, to fall again in 1874, when our information ceases. t
This is the progress of the wave over the country as a whole,
but when we look to its distribution in the different districts of the
country, we see that in the period 1857 to 1870, while the epidemic
rise and fall is distinctly marked in the rural, mainland-rural, and
town districts, the crest of the wave is highest in the mainland-
rural, next highest in the insular, and lowest in the town districts,
the respective highest death-rates being 720, 600, and 530 per
million inhabitants. Not only so, but, taking each individual year,
you will observe that in twelve the niainland-rural rises above the
towns, in one they are equal, and in only one is the town group
higher. In four years even the insular-rural columns overtop the
towns. The right hand portion of the diagram with the re-arranged
districts shows that the second epidemic rise affected all the dis-
tricts, and that the acme was reached in 1872 by the principal
towns, with 380 per million ; in 1873 by the small towns, with 420
per million ; in 1874 by the large towns, with 470 per million; the
acme of the mainland-rural being the same as that of the eight prin-
cipal towns — viz., 380 in 1874. The effect of removing the villages
of from 2,000 to 10,000 inhabitants from the mainland-rural districts
is nothing like so marked on the relative position of that group as
we should expect, but the insular group is decidedly lowered by the
exclusion of its populous places.
You will observe an arrow-head projecting from the black
columns. This marks the position of Glasgow among the towns, and
consequently has very special interest for us. The epidemic was
longer in obtaining a hold upon Glasgow than upon the other towns
* Annual Report for 1858, p. 33.
f The facte for 1874 are not published, but have been kindly furnished in
advance by the Registrar-Ueneral.
Dr. J. B. Russell on Filth-Diseases in Town and Country. 15
and districts, but it rapidly rose to an acme above the average of
the other towns in 1863, when the death-rate was 600 per million,
which is nearly double the highest figure ever attained since. In
1864, however, we see that even the rural districts reached 600, and
the main! and -rural surpassed it with 720. This, I need not say, is
a most remarkable fact. You will observe that in the most recent
years, to the right of the diagram, the arrow-head which marks the
position of our city is always considerably below the horizontal bar
which marks the mean for the whole of Scotland.
Turn now to the diagram which depicts the history of Enteric
Fever (Plate II.) It is very unfortunate that this history only
dates from 1865, because enteric fever has been undoubtedly en-
demic in this country without interruption for generations. It is
especially vexatious that the distinction between it and typhus was
not adopted in the national registers of Scotland sooner, because it
was first recognised and recorded by Glasgow physicians, following
the physicians of the Continent. In 1836 Drs. Percy and Stewart
demonstrated the points of difference in the wards of the Royal
Infirmary, and since 1847 the two fevers have been entered in the
books of that institution by their respective names.
The relative position of the horizontal bars showing the annual
mean prevalence is typical of the endemic as their position in the
diphtheria chart is typical of the epidemic character. There are
fluctuations, but they are trifling, and on the whole there is a slight
aggregate diminution in the more recent years. The columns, how-
ever, show distinct epidemic spurts or outbreaks, and that in the
mainland-rural districts, and in the small towns. The actual highest
points are in the mainland-rural and small town columns, 580 and
590 per million respectively, the highest town group being 540.
In the left hand series of years the mainland-rural is considerably
above the towns in two years, and in the remaining four there is
but a slight difference in favour of the former. The right hand
group, however, proves that the headquarters of enteric fever are in
our small towns and villages, which tower above the towns in each
year. There can be no doubt that it is this which explains the high
level of the mainland-rural districts in the older subdivisions to
the left.
The position of the arrow-head shows that Glasgow holds a high
position among the local enteric death-rates. Still, in 1866, it will
be noted that the rate was only 470 per million against the main-
land-rural 580. The highest recorded rate in Glasgow up to last
year was that shown in IS 68 — viz., C10.
16 Philosophical Society of Glasgow.
I shall now ask you to turn your attention to another diagram of
great importance and interest (Plato III.) It refers to diphtheria
during the ten years between the census of 1861 and that of 1871,
and derives a special value from three circumstances : (1.) That the
population being determined from two points, one at the beginning,
the other at the end of the period, it is strictly accurate; (2.) that
every death-rate represents the mean of ten years; and (3.) that each
county in Scotland is represented apart, with its own rural and town
districts placed side by side. We are thus able to say, not merely
how all the rural and all the town districts of Scotland taken to-
gether stand to each other, but to take the towns of every county
and compare them with their surrounding rural districts, in re-
spect of the fatality of diphtheria, and so at once eliminate all
such causes as difference of soil, climate, <fcc. As in the other
diagrams, the black represents the town districts. The counties
which had no towns above 10,000 inhabitants in 18G1 are massed
to the right. The black horizontal band marks the mean of all
the towns, which was 254 per million, the mainland-rural being
355, and the insular-rural 217. The columns representing tho
eight principal towns are indicated by the letters P.T.
With these explanations I might almost leave the diagram to tell
its own remarkable story. There are eleven counties containing
towns which are singled out from their surrounding country, and
in only three is it not the case that these towns are freer from
diphtheria than tho country round about them. These three are
Ayr, Lanark, and Edinburgh ; but while the town of Ayr was
slightly worse than tho county, that of Kilmarnock was con-
siderably better; while Coatbridge and tho suburbs of Glasgow
were worse than the county of Lanark, Glasgow proper, and the
towns of Hamilton and Airdrie, were decidedly better; and although
Edinburgh town is higher than Edinburgh county, Leith is a very
little lower. Look, on the other hand, to tho county of Aberdeen,
where the town is 304, and the country 693 per million; the county
of Forfar, with the town of Montrose at 143, and Dundee at 237,
while the country is 496 ; the county of Perth, with tho town at
182, and the country at 420 ; the town of Dumfries at 116, with its
county at 253, and the suburb of Dumfries, Maxwelltown, at 41,
lower than insular Orkney and Shetland, in fact, the lowest in
Scotland, and yet tho county in which it stands had a dcath-rato
from diphtheria of 319, or nearly eight times as high. Turn now to
the 21 rural counties to the right, and you will observe that 13 of them
rise above the mean line of the town districts ; and we have the
Dr. J. B. Russell on Filth-Diseases in Town and Country. 17
sparsely populated and distant Caithness towering above all wit li
591, not, however without a rival, which it finds, not in Glasgow,
or Edinburgh, or any other town, but in the rural portion of Aber-
deenshire, which you see rises like an Alp on the extreme left of
the diagram. In the county of Caithness there are 56 persons to
the square mile ; in the county of Aberdeen (including its towns)
there are 124 ; in the county of Lanark (including its towns) there
are over 900 ; and in Glasgow we have to endeavour to live with
64,000 per mile, and yet the people poison each other with their
infected excreta at more than twice the rate in Caithness, and more
than 2J times the rate in the country districts of Aberdeenshire that
they do in Glasgow, and that not for one phenomenal year, but on
the average of ten successive years.
I wish it had been possible for me to present to you a similar
chart of the comparative fatality of enteric fever, but we must wait
for the census of 1881 before the materials will be provided. Such
data as exist are exhibited in these diagrams. They show that on
a six years' average of the triple subdivision of Scotland the death-
rates per million from enteric fever were — insular-rural 140, towns
480, and mainland-rural 485. On a four years' average of the more
recent five subdivisions, the order is — insular-rural 200, mainland-
rural 370, principal towns 430, large towns 460, small towns 550.
These facts, as well as a considerable acquaintance with the current
history of enteric fever, its degrees of endemic prevalence, and the
distribution of its annual epidemic outbursts, lead me to anticipate
that when the next census has been taken, and a ten years' chart
can be formed, it will not be very different in its graphic representa-
tion of the neglected nastiness of our villages and country districts,
and the comparatively favourable position of our cities, even under
the fearful odds imposed by their size, their density, and the char-
acter of a large proportion of their population.
Here I may with advantage, in a few words, bring into promi-
nence some of the chief circumstances which compose the odds to
which allusion has just been made, as being against our cities in
such a comparison with the country and villages. They merely
require to be mentioned. There is first, and chiefly, the element of
density or aggregation of human beings on a confined area, the
presence of which constitutes the town, and the absence of which,
or the opposite of which, constitutes the country. The diseases
whose comparative prevalence we have been investigating survive
the completion of their career in one individual by passing to
another. If a thistle be surrounded by miles of dry bare rock
Vol. XI. -No. 1. c
18 ' Philosophical Society of Gkwjoie.
which it is impossible to fertilise, it may float off its seed for years,
and yet at the end of its own life the thistle will bo extinct in that
region. But if you lay off ten square miles round this thistle, and
at regular intervals form little patches of earth at the rate of 5G per
square mile, the floating seeds will discover those patches of earth,
and germinate and fructify ; and if you lay off another area of tea
miles round another thistle, and make 64,000 such patches per mile,
the process of dissemination will progress cateris paribus a thousand
times moro rapidly, and the chances of the spread of the thistle
infection are more than proportionately improved. If we found
that, notwithstanding the increased chance, this thistle did not
spread more rapidly, nay, did not even spread witli half the rapidity
of the thistle whose chances were so much less, then we might make*
sure that the channels of conveyance of the seed to the soil, the
atmospheric currents, or accidental transport by water, by birds,
&c., were immensely less numerous and active.* Now, for thistle
say diphtheria, and for the two areas say the county of Caithness
and the city of Glasgow, and you have a perfect representation of
the comparative facilities afforded for the propagation, not only of
this, but of every other zymotic disease after its kind and accord-
ing to its special habits of development in rural districts and in
towns. Everything is left to chance in tho country. The bounty
of nature there is such that no improvidence can entirely squander
it, as the comparative freedom of the country from acute pulmonary
diseases shows ; but in towns it is not so. There life would be im-
possible on such terms ; and, as it were under a penalty of death,
the towns have by permanent expenditure on sanitary works, by
current expenditure on general supervision and tho prevention of
infectious disease, so controlled the channels of conveyance of tho
seed to the soil, that in regard to diphtheria, enteric fever, and
cholera, a citizen of Glasgow runs much less risk of dying of theso
diseases than an inhabitant of Caithness or Aberdeenshire, or
almost any other rural district in Scotland you choose to name !
Nor are the infectious diseases of tho country, in their unchecked
luxuriance, a matter of indifference to towns. Tho daily supply
oven of one essential of our food — viz., milk, brings such a city as
Glasgow into what, in the strictest etymological sense, is familiar
intercourse with all the pastoral country in the south of Scotland.
I can say of my own knowledge, from investigations into the enteric
fever of the last four years in Glasgow, that when it has become
locally epidemic in certain parts of the town, it has been derived
from excremental pollution miles off, either demonstrably or with
Dr. J. B. Kussell on Filth-Diseases in Town and Country. 19
strong probability. So it has been in Greenock, in Edinburgh, in
Leeds, London, and many other towns. In other minor ways the
country contributes such diseases to the town ; but enough has been
said to show that the town and its arrangements are credited or dis-
credited with much enteric fever at any rate, with the genesis of
which they have nothing more to do than with the thistle-down
which is borne into its streets from the country meadows.
Last of all the odds against the town which I shall notice is this
— that both diphtheria and enteric fever affect youth, and the town
population is much richer in this element than that of the country*
About 90 per cent, of those who suffer from enteric fever are under
thirty years of age, while more than half of those who have diph-
theria are under five years of age. I shall not trouble you with the
figures, but it is a matter of fact that a constant tide of persons, aged
between fifteen and thirty, flows from the rural districts and villages
into the towns. This in turn maintains a high relative birth-rate
in towns, so that you see the ultimate result is to expose a larger
proportion of persons, specially susceptible of infection, out of a
population which is itself larger in relation to the area upon which
it lives, to those diseases in the town than in the country.
* Notwithstanding all those disadvantages, I have tested the urban
populations by the most severe test — viz., the death-rate per head
of population, which makes no allowance for the very different
general death-rate as compared with the country. If we could con-
trast the number of cases of actual disease in town and country, the
comparison would be correct as a basis for the estimation of the
relative activity of the causes of the disease. But we can deal only
with deaths, and a case of disease is passed on into the category of
death, not merely by phenomena essential to the disease, but by
agents external to it, and acting upon all persons suffering from
whatever disease, and, indeed, whether diseased or healthy, who live
in the locality where the disease prevails. Now, the proclivity to
death is, on the whole, much greater in the town than in the
country, from the existence of causes which affect the population in
the aggregate ; so that 100 persons suffering from enteric fever may
yield twelve to fifteen deaths in the town against eight to ten
in the country; and we should wrongly estimate the relative
activity of the causes of enteric fever, if we took it to be in
the ratio of eight or ten to twelve or fifteen, the fact being
that they were probably equally active in the two places. The
easiest way to give some general expression to those local differ-
ences of general mortality is to give the proportion of the deaths
20
Philosophical Society of Glasgow.
from the individual disease to the total deaths. In the ten
years 18G1-70, of the total deaths in the towns, 9G per 10,000
were caused by diphtheria, in the insular-rural 132, and in the
mainland-rural 189. Then, as to enteric fever, on a six years1
average of the three groups, it contributed 86 per 10,000 of the
total deaths in the insular-rural, 170 in the towns, and 259 in the
mainland-rural. On a three years' average of the five groups, the
proportions were 121 per 10,000 in the insular- rural, 160 in the
eight principal towns, 181 in the large towns, 213 in the mainland-
rural, and 250 in the small towns.
Although the eight principal towns of Scotland — viz., Glasgow,
Edinburgh, Dundee, Aberdeen, Greenock, Paisley, Leith, and Perth,
as a whole, stand so favourably as regards those tilth diseases, they
present notable and marked differences one from another. I have
made use of all available sources of information as to their
individual internal condition, but a great deal of detail as to local
circumstances, which it is difficult, if not impossible, to obtain or to
estimate correctly without local inspection and personal obser-
vation, is evidently requisite to warrant trustworthy inferences.
As I am anxious to follow up those diseases into their very habitats
in Glasgow, the city with which we are all most minutely familiar,
I shall merely run rapidly over the other towns, giving a few facts.
The source of my information as to water-closets and water supply
is the Rivers Pollution Commission's laborious Report on the
Domestic Water-supply of Great Britain, where all the chief towns
of the country may be referred to as in a dictionary, their names
being arranged alphabetically. The facts in that report represent
the state of matters in 1871. Their relative position as to death-
rate from diphtheria and enteric fever is shown in another chart,
and is determined from an average of the last eleven years. The
following is the table on which the chart is founded : —
o
Death-rates feh Million in Eight Large Towns, average
of Eleven Years, 18C6-76.
Diphtheria.
Enteric Fover.
Perth,
• •
180
Perth,
230
Paisley,
* •
180
Leith,
350
Leith,
* •
190
Dundee,
380
Aberdeen, .
• •
220
Edinburgh,
380
Glasgow, .
• •
230
Aberdeen, .
450
Dundee,
• •
290
Greenock, .
470
Greenock, .
• •
310
Glasgow, .
490
Edinburgh,
• •
320
Paisley,
530
Dr. J. B. Eussell on Filth-Diseases in Town ami Country. 21
Perth stands lowest both in diphtheria and enteric fever, with
death-rates of 180 and 230 per million. There was one water-
closet to each 33 inhabitants in 1871, on which year I shall
throughout base those ratios as the only available way of indicating
a proportion by which the towns can be compared in this respect.
The water supply is partly from the river, which is said to be
pure, partly from another source, said to be impure, and in both
cases is said to be defective in quantity.
Paisley has the same death-rate from diphtheria as Perth, but
enteric fever is more fatal there than in any of the other towns, the
rate bf|pg 53Q per million. There was one water-closet to 96
inhabitants, and the water supply is good and abundant. Paisley
is essentially a midden town. It has had good water since 1835,
it is comparatively free of diphtheria, yet enteric fever is very
prevalent.
Leith shares the Edinburgh water supply, which is intermittent
and totally inadequate, and also in part impure. We have no
information as to the number of water-closets, but Edinburgh had
one to six of its population in 1871; and as part of the town is
almost entirely without water-closets, and there are no middens,
this high proportion arises from the number of large houses con-
taining several such conveniences. Yet Leith has a diphtheria
death-rate of only 190, while Edinburgh has the highest of all the
towns, viz., 320; and Leith stands second lowest in enteric fever
with 350, while Edinburgh follows with 380.
Aberdeen has a death-rate of 220 from diphtheria and 450 from
enteric fever, the fourth and fifth lowest positions respectively. It
had one water-closet to 44 inhabitants. The water supply is from
the Dee, and is said to be pure and adequate ; but in 1866 the point
of intake from the Dee had been shifted higher up, so as to avoid
certain sources of sewage contamination.
Glasgow stands fifth lowest in diphtheria, 230, and is second from
the highest, i. e., next to Paisley, in enteric fever — 490.
Dundee follows as to diphtheria, 290, and is third lowest in
enteric fever, 380, the same as Edinburgh. Yet the water supply
is said to have been " far from good " and " quite inadequate," and
it is called a water-closet town. I learn that since 1875 the water
supply has been made copious and good.
Greenock is all but as bad as Edinburgh as to diphtheria, 310 per
million, and comes just below Glasgow in enteric fever with 470.
It was said to have one water-closet to 17 of its population, and the
water supply has been good and abundant since so far back as 1773.
22 Philotofkical Society of Glasgow.
Them* average death-rates do not show the highest or epidemic
points, and in this respect Glasgow stands most favourably, there
being only one town which shows a lower acme in diphtheria and
one in enteric fever. Paisley seems to have bnt trifling epidemic
exacerbations of diphtheria, while enteric fever is a constant scourge;
and Perth suffers much and increasingly from diphtheria, while
enteric fever at its worst does not touch the Glasgow rate. There
has been a decidedly decreased mortality from these diseases within
the laat few years in Glasgow, Edinburgh, Dundee, and Aberdeen.
It must be apparent from this rapid survey of our towns that
more intimate knowledge is wanted of their inner condition to
enable us to draw correct conclusions from such widely divergent
mortalities. We shall now turn to Edinburgh and Glasgow, and
endeavour to get a little nearer the heart of this sewage question,
as it presents itself to us in towns regarding which we have more
intimate knowledge, in relation to health.
While it may be correct, speaking generally, to call one town a
privy town or a midden town, and another a water-closet town, we
require more precision. We wish some information as to the privy
or midden and water-closet districts of the town, which, being in
one area, are supplied with the same water, subject to the same
climate, and stand on the same soil ; so that we shall have less
difficulty in distinguishing any influence which the circumstances
in which they differ may exercise. It is remarkable, however, how
little precise information as to the statistical facts worth knowing
we can obtain. In Manchester, for example, we find arguments in
favour of their midden system, based upon statistics of the diminu-
tion of "fever" of late years. Yet the only "fever" which is
directly related to questions of filth removal — viz., enteric, is thrown
into one indiscriminate class, and diphtheria is not referred to at all.
So it is in Liverpool, and indeed the national statistics of the
English Registrar-General are also defective.
In 1874, the Town Council of Edinburgh issued a return, the
value as well as the precise contents of which will best be shown by
quoting its title, which is — " Return by the Burgh Engineer of the
number of dwelling-houses, within each of the nineteen sanitary
districts into which the city is divided, provided with water-closet
accommodation, the means adopted for ventilating the same, and
water supply, &c, with supplementary return by the Medical Officer
of Health of the rate and amount of mortality and causes of death
in each district." The facts as to mortality only extend to one
year, 1871, and unfortunately the deaths from enteric fever are not
Dr. J. B. Russell on Filth-Diseases in Town and Country. 23
isolated from the general mass of " fever." I can therefore use only
one test disease — viz., diphtheria, which it so happens was more
prevalent in 1871 than it had ever been before or has ever been
since in Edinburgh. By throwing the nineteen districts into
four groups, I obtain the following comparison of the fatality of
diphtheria, relative to tk» proportion of houses having water-
closets inside their walls, awl having no water-closet either inside
or outside.
In Group I., 70J per cent, of the houses had no water-closet
accommodation whatever, and 9J per cent had inside water-closets.
The general death-rate was 32 per 1,000, the death-rate from
diphtheria was 67 per 100,000, and the proportion to 10,000 deaths
from all causes was 21.
In Group II., 36£ per cent, of the houses had no water-closet
accommodation whatever, and 37 per cent, had inside water-closets.
The general death-rate was 27 per 1,000, the death-rate from diph-
theria was 62 per 100,000, and the proportion to 10,000 deaths from
all causes was 23.
In Group III., 17 per cent, of the houses had no water-closet
accommodation whatever, and 73 per cent, had inside water-closets.
The general death-rate was 21 per 1,000, the death-rate from diph-
theria was 79 per 100,000, and the proportion to 10,000 deaths from
all causes was 38.
In Group IV., only 7 J per cent, of the houses were entirely with-
out water-closet accommodation, while 88 per cent, had inside water-
closets. The general death-rate was 20 per 1,000, the death-rate
from diphtheria was 77 per 100,000, and the proportion to 10,000
deaths from all causes was 39.
It is scarcely possible for you to gather the precise meaning of
those figures from simply hearing them read, but this is of less im-
portance, as they serve rather to give a clue to the correct line of
inquiry than fully to answer it ; and I shall immediately proceed to
lay before you, by the aid of diagrams, the result of a more perfect
examination of further and more satisfactory statistics derived from
our own city. The fact which I wish you to remember, and which
those figures prove, is that a relation exists between the proportion
of houses having inside water closets, and consequently a connection
between the sewers and their internal atmosphere, and the death-
rate from diphtheria. It is 10 per 100,000 higher where 88 per
cent, of the houses stand in this relation to the sewers than where
only 9 J per cent, are so related ; and the proportion of deaths from
diphtheria is 18 per 10,000 higher. Still, there is an enormous
24 Philosophical Society of Glasgow.
difference between the ratio of increase of inside water-closets and
of the mortality from diphtheria. Although the maximum of
internal water-closet accommodation is ten times the minimum, the
increase of diphtheria death-rate is only a sixth, and we find the
maximum death-rate of the four groups where the increase of internal
water-closets is only about eight time* the minimum proportion.
But measuring the increase of diphtheiofll as a proportion of the total
deaths, it rises with the proportion of internal water-closets, though
still not at all in the same ratio.
Let us now endeavour, from the data supplied by our Glasgow
experience, to push home this inquiry into the relation between
internal communication between the atmosphere of our houses and
the sewers, and those two diseases. In 1872, with that instinct for
the vital points of contact between the sewage question and our
health which has made your President remarkable among practical
sanitarians, Dr. Fergus moved for and obtained a return from the
Board of Police of " the number of houses, manufactories, and work-
shops in each street, and the drains, water-closets, <tc, in communi-
cation with main sewers," with sundry details as to the condition of
the sewer connections as to ventilation, relation to cisterns for
domestic water supply, <fcc. Unfortunately this return was not, as
in the case of Edinburgh, drawn up in relation to our sanitary sub-
divisions of the city, so that it is impossible to apply the valuable
local information which it contains to those subdivisions.
Many of you must be familiar with the four groups of the sanitary
subdivisions of Glasgow from the description which accompanies
each quarterly issue of the Mortality Tables. The first may be
called the water-closet group, only 11 per cent, of the houses being
one apartment, and the density 70 per acre; while the fourth may
be called the midden group, 44 per cent, of the houses being one
apartment, and the density 320 per acre. In the former the death
rate per 100,000 from diphtheria, on the average of three years
(1873-5), was 25, and from enteric fever 34 ; while in the latter tho
death-rates were 18 and 41. But the maximum death-rate from
enteric fever was in Group II., where it was 50 per 100,000, that
being the region of newly-built houses of small size, largely
provided with modern conveniences. Although the absolute death-
rate from enteric fever was higher in the so-called midden dis-
trict than in the typical water-closet district, the proportion to the
total number of deaths from this disease was decidedly the lowest.
As we saw in the case of Edinburgh, measured in this way, the
gradation was steadily downward in the proportion of deaths from
Dr. J. B. Eussell on Filth-Diseases in Town and Country. 25
diphtheria as the presumable proportion of water-closets diminished,
though not in the same ratio ; but even in this aspect, Group II. had
a pre-eminence over the water-closet district, in which the houses
are of larger size. There is found both the highest enteric death-
rate and the largest proportion to the total deaths. We have thus
in both Edinburgh and Glasgow had our attention directed to an
apparent relation between the death-rate from specific filth-diseases
and the proportion of inhabited houses which are connected with
the sewers. Let us now endeavour to work out this relation to a
somewhat more precise issue.
There is no difficulty in expressing the problem in exact terms.
The difficulty is to obtain the requisite data wherewith to solve it.
Hitherto we have been dealing with averages and proportions, and
otherwise, as it were, endeavouring indirectly to work round the
question, and consequently the answer we have obtained has been
more a hint or suggestion than an answer. It is evidently not
enough to know only that a certain percentage of the total houses
in a district have water-closets inside their walls, and that a certain
death-rate of all the inhabitants of these houses was ascertained to
have been caused by a certain disease. We wish to know also
whether those persons died in these houses, and if not all, what
comparative proportion died in these houses, and in others in the
district not provided with water-closets, per head of their respective
populations.
It is evident that this detailed information is to be obtained in two
directions — (1.) from inquiries made as to the surrounding circum-
stances of those who die ; (2.) from a minute census of the circum-
stances of those who are alive, i.e., of the general population. As
the whole fabric of our conclusions rests upon the correctness with
which these facts have been collected, it becomes necessary not only
to give you the facts, but to indicate the precautions adopted to
ensure their completeness.
First, then, as to the deaths. Since the middle of 1873, every
death occurring in the city from any zymotic disease, or from
diseases of the lungs, has been written upon a card, on which is
printed a blank form, which is filled up with the required par-
ticulars from information obtained in the house where the death
occurred. In this way a mass of important information is collected,
a small portion of which I intend now to make use of. It includes
minute details about the size of the house, the position of the water-
closet, if there be one, and also of the jawbox or sink. The diseases
which I have investigated in connection with the present inquiry
Philosophical Society of GlasgoK*
26
include, of course, diphtheria and enteric fever, but in addition
croup, in order to show how it differs from diphtheria and diarrhceal
deaths, because of their frequent association with the specific filth
diseases in a common origin. The number of deaths from diphtheria
-dealt with in the following statements is 420, from enteric fever 833,
and from croup 556, being all that occurred iu Glasgow from 1st
July, 1873, to 31st December, 1876, or three and a half years. The
number of deaths from diarrhoea is 9G5, being all that occurred in
the years 1870 and 187G.
The first thing to be done was to choose a basis of classification.
It seemed to me that whatever influence our sowers have in convey-
ing impurities to our bodies must be exercised mainly, if not solely i
through the communications which enter within, the houses which
wc inhabit These must, at all events, afford such a facility, for the
process of fertilising us with the germs of the specific diseases, which
are supposed to emerge from the sewers, that if there be such a pro-
cess, then there ought to be a distinct relation between the propor-
tion of persons fertilised, out of the total nuoiber exposed, and the
number of those possible channels of infection within the houses
which these porsons inhabit. It was necessary to take account, not
■only of water-closets, but of sinks, when situated within the house,
both becauso these may bring in ftecal emanations, and because
I believe that, in the smaller houses, where there are no water-
closets, they also convey out matters which usually find on exit
through a water-closet
This being the basis, the following is the classification adopted.
It is fourfold; — (1.) The deaths which occurred in houses having a
water-closet intide, with or without a sink. (2.) Those which
■occurred in houses having a sink inside, but no water-closet (3.)
Those which occurred in houses having no connection whatever
between their internal atmosphere and the sewers — i.e., having
__
Mpn-
UierU.
Enwric
Croup.
—
Funmcu.
Dlph
tot
Dr>| DUr.
Water-closet, . .
Kink only, . . .
Unknown, . . .
ICO
181
fiS
10
235
373
17a
52
64
270
187
15
152
4C0
3lH
49
as
43
17
62
28
43
■2\
15
48
34
3
1G
18
31
r.
Total
420
S33
550
965
Dr. J. B. Russell on Filth-Diseases in Town and Country. 27
neither water-closet nor sink. (4.) Those deaths concerning which,
from the addresses not being found, or other causes, the information
was not obtained. •
Having got the deaths so classified, the result is found to be that
38 and 28 per cent, of the deaths from diphtheria and enteric fever
occurred in houses in which there were water-closets, and 15 and 16
per cent, of these from croup and diarrhoea.
That 43 and 45 per cent, of the deaths from diphtheria and enteric
fever occurred in houses having a sink but no water-closet, and 48
per cent, in each case of these from croup and diarrhoea.
That 17 and 21 per cent, of the deaths from diphtheria and enteric
fever occurred in houses having no internal connection with the
sewers whatever, and 34 and 31 per cent, of these from croup and
diarrhoea.
So far so good, but it is evident that an important element in
determining the influence upon health of an inside sewer connection
is the size of the house — important in three ways — (1.) by relation
to the degree of dilution of the fertilising emanations; (2.) by so far
determining the number of persons exposed to these fertilising ema-
nations ; and (3.) by some degree of connection with the social posi-
tion and habits of those persons. Therefore, the next step in the
analysis was to subdivide each class in each disease, according as the
deaths took place in houses of one, two, three, four, five, or more
apartments.
I shall not trouble you with the actual figures obtained by this
subdivision, but asking you to take for granted that it was carefully
and correctly made, shall proceed shortly to state the information
required to give precision to the interpretation of these figures, by
enabling us to estimate the total number living under the varied
circumstances in which the already ascertained number died. This
information included three distinct facts — viz., (1.) the total number
of inhabited houses of each size; (2.) the total number of the inha-
bited houses of each size which have water-closets inside, which have
sinks only, and which have neither; (3.) the total number of persons
inhabiting houses of each size and having such important differences
in their internal relation to the sewers. This is the most essential
item of information, because without it we should fall into an
obvious fallacy in comparing houses as to the prevalence of disease
in their inhabitants. A house and its arrangements express their
influence upon health through the inmates, and a house of many
apartments, containing many people, has a proportionately greater
chance or possibility of showing its insalubrity than a house of few
28 Philosophical Society of Glasgow.
apartments containing few people. It is so necessary that you
should be convinced of the correctness of these facts, that I shall
trouble you with a short explanation of the method by which they
have been ascertained.
1. The* total number of inhabited houses of each size is readily and
v correctly obtained from the City Assessor's annual assessment roll ;
a statement compiled from which is furnished each year to the
Sanitary department, for the purpose of calculating therefrom tho
population of the city.
2. The total number of inhabited houses of each size which have
water-closets or sinks inside can be determined only for houses of
one and two apartments, for this reason, that in Dr. Fergus's return,
already referred to, we find the number given, as in 1872, for those
sizes of houses alone. All above that size are combined, and obviously
no information can be got as to the proportion of houses having such
arrangements, where the houses are of such a size as possibly, and
indeed, in many cases certainly, to have several water-closets or
sinks in each. But applying the percentage of houses of one and
two apartments having, or not having, those conveniences in 1872
to the average of those inhabited in 1873-4-5 and 6, we get results
applicable to the statistics of death before us.
3. The total number of persons inhabiting houses of each size I
have estimated from certain useful returns of the Registrar- General,
based on the Census of 1871.* From these sources I calculate that
in Glasgow the average number of inmates of houses of various sizes
is as follows : —
1 Apt., 3 29 persons.
2 „ 4-97 „
3 Apts., 5*27 persons.
4 „ 6-79 „
5 Apts. and above, 10*75 persons.
The accuracy of these estimates is confirmed by observation, bu*
especially by this, that by applying them to the various sizes o^
houses inhabited in any one year, we get the exact population of
that year.
The result of all these calculations is before me in a tabular form,
and before you in the left-hand portion of the diagram, headed
Death-rate per Million in Houses of various sizes in Glasgow
according to size of houses, and according to Sewer-connections in
small houses (Plate IV.)
* Census Report, vol. i., p. xxxvii, and p. 275.
Dr. J. B. Russell on Filth-Diseases in Town and Country. 29
Size or House.
Death Rmc
•
FEE MlIXIOX.
Diph-
theria,
Enteric
Ferer.
Diar-
rhea*.
Croup.
1 Apartment, ....
o
- t» ....
3
4
5 „ ....
163
250
292
277
126
390
459
574
374
186
1446
919
548
304
307
421
344
183
142
91
The left half of the diagram shows the death-rates in houses of one,
two, three, four, and five or more apartments, following in succes-
sion for each disease from left to right. Your eye will tell you that
the death-rates from diphtheria and enteric fever increase steadily
from one apartment up to three apartments, whore they culmi-
nate in both diseases, to find in both their lowest level in the largest
size of house. On the other hand, the death-rates from diarrhoea and
croup are at their maximum in houses of one apartment, and descend,
in steady gradations, to a minimum in houses of the largest size.
Now, in all the vertical sections of this part of the diagram, and in
each column of the table, we are dealing with the same people living
in the same houses, yet while diphtheria and enteric fever agree in
their mode of incidence upon those people, diarrhoea and croup mani-
fest quite a different law ; consequently there must be some property
or peculiarity about those houses which produces a different affinity
for, or proclivity to, those diseases. It is as when a piece of calico,
having a pattern described upon it with mordant, is dipped into a
dye, and when it is washed, the dye is fixed in the parts which are
prepared, but disappears from those which are not. What is the
mordant which fixes the diphtheria and enteric fever upon the inha-
bitants of the houses of two and three apartments 1
We learn from Dr. Fergus's return that 1 J per cent, of the houses
of one apartment in the city actually had a water-closet inside of
them, and that about 32 per cent, more had sinks. We learn also
that 13 per cent, of the two apartment houses had inside water-closets,
and 56 per cent, more had sinks. Therefore, in one way or another,
the internal atmosphere of fully 33 per cent, of the one apartment,
and 69 per cent, of the two apartment houses was in communication
with the drains. The question then is, does it make any difference
to the inhabitants of a one or two apartment house that there is or
is not a communication between the house air and the sewers?
30
Philosophical Society of Glasgow.
Ar<; they, or are they not, more liable to be fertilised with the germs
of those diseases ?
You will find the answer in the right hand portion of the diagram,
in which the numerical statements contained in a table before me
ar<; depicted. The size of house is marked under each vertical
fcubdi vision by numerals, and above each numeral are three columns,
whose height indicates the comparative death-rate in houses of
that size, according to their sewer connection, which is shown by
word* at the top of each column. As only one death from enteric
fever, one from croup, and none from diphtheria were recorded
in a house of one apartment having a water-closet, that column is
merely dotted in for uniformity under those diseases, and there are
blank* in the table.
H^wcr Conne?tioni.
Water-closets,
Sink, .
None, • •
Diphtheria.
Enteric Fever.
Diarrhoea.
Croop.
1 Apt.
253
120
2 Apt.
i
1 Apt ' 2 Apt
lApt 2 Apt
1 Apt
3 Apt
418
275
127
677
249
665
465
386
1,978
, 2,194
1,072
667
998
880
633
324
294
338
366
Your eye will again tell you that the death-rates of diphtheria and
enteric fever are both at their minimum in houses of one and of two
apartments, which have no communication with the sewers ; and at
their maximum in those one apartment houses which have sinks,
and in those two apartment houses which have water-closets — that
is to say, if you have a house of one apartment with no direct means
of access for the specific germs, you may yet have 120 deaths per
million from diphtheria, and 249 from enteric fever ; if you intro-
duce a sink, you may have a death-rate of 253 from diphtheria and
077 from enteric fever. So, if you have a house of two apartments,
with no direct means of access for the specific germs, you may still
have a death-rate of 127 per million from diphtheria, and 386 from,
enteric fever ; if you introduce a sink, you may have a death-rate of
275 from diphtheria, and 465 from enteric fever; and if to the
luxury of a sink you add that of a water-closet inside such a house,
you may have a death-rate of 418 from diphtheria, and 665 from
enteric fever.
Now, these facts not only prove, without, so far as I can see, the
shadow of a doubt, that the inhabitants of one and two apartment
houses run a risk of impregnation with these specific germs, which
Dr. J. B. Russell on Filth-Diseases in Totcn and Country. 31
is increased as you introduce sinks and water-closets within their
houses, hut they also prove these conveniences to he factors of those
diseases wherever they are found, unless controlled and limited in
their action by overruling or modifying circumstances. If you go hack
to the left hand part of this diagram, you observe that the culmina-
ting point of the mortality of these two diseases is in houses of three
apartments. Unfortunately, for reasons already stated, I cannot
tell you the proportion of these houses which have or have not
water-closets or sinks, hut if we know that when we pass from the
class of one apartments to that of two apartments, we rise from 33
per cent, to 69 per cent, of internal sewer-connections, we may be
quite certain that three and four apartment houses have every one
a sink, and nearly every one a water-closet inside, while houses of
five or more apartments are all so provided — the larger, indeed,
having several. What is it, then, that controls those factors of specific
disease, so that in fact the mortality from both is lower in houses of
the largest size wit/i all Hiese conveniences^ than in Jwuses of the smallest
size which are entirely without them ?
Here we may take up those parts of the tables and diagram
which refer to diarrhoea and croup (Plate IV, right hand portion).
The mortality from these diseases culminates among those who
inhabit one apartment houses, and declines without a break to
its minimum in the largest houses; and when we compare
the mortality in the smaller houses in relation to their sewer-
connections, we do not lind that agreement or consentaneous
movement which indicates the casual relationship. In the
diarrhoeal columns for one apartment that representing the
death-rate in houses having a sink is highest, the water-closet
column is next, and the column for houses having no sewer-
connection is nearly one-half lower than either. On the other
hand, you observe that in two apartment houses, while the diarrhoeal
death-rate is highest in those having " sinks," it is one-third lower
in those having water-closets, and only one-ninth lower in those
having no sewer-connection whatever. As to croup, although the
death-rate is highest in one apartment houses which are provided
with "sinks" inside, the three classes of two apartment houses
follow the very reverse order to that which we observe in diphtheria
and enteric fever — viz., from a minimum in those with water-closets
to a maximum in those having neither water-closet nor "sinks."
Now, I take it that we have, both in the descent from the cul-
minating point at three apartments in the mortality from diphtheria
and enteric fever, and in the continuous descent in the mortality of
33 Philosophical Society of Glasgow.
diarrhoea and croup, as you proceed from the smallest to the largest
size of house, the predominance of a great general law of mortality
in regard to the house accommodation of the people. I believe
that if you were to classify the whole population of the city accord-
ing as they occupied houses of one, two, three, four, five, or more
apartments, and then to ascertain the aggregate death-rate from all
causes in each class, you would find that it followed exactly the order
of the diarrhoea and croup columns in the left hand part of the
diagram. It would have its maximum in the population living in
one apartment houses, and fall in gradations to a minimum among
those who inhabited the largest houses. The rental, and conse-
quently the size and comfort of a man's house, bears in the aggre-
gate a constant relation to his general well-being. The small house
means straitness of circumstance from whatever cause, and brings
with it a constant tendency to overcrowding with its morbific
influences, especially in the production of pulmonary diseases, the
aggravation of the infectious diseases, especially of childhood, and
that general deterioration of the moral tone and social virtues
which tells with fatal effect upon those who depend upon those
virtues most for the tenure of thoir frail lives — the infants. While,
therefore, I believe that in reference to the excess of diarrhoeal
deaths among those who inhabit one and two apartment houses pro-
vided Vith sinks, there may be a slight evidence of a deleterious
influence emanating from those sinks, and producing infantile
diarrhoea, and also that a proportion of the disease associated with
sinks in one apartment houses, and called croup, may be in reality
diphtheria, still those two diseases manifest much more decidedly
that influence of selection which the size and quality of the house
exercises in aggregating the population into groups, over whose
general mortality the law presides, of increase pari jhissu with the
decrease of the rental and consequent accommodation and sanitary
and social advantages.*
* An attempt has been made to establish & relation between this fact of
general " well-being " and mortality, by com] taring income and death-rate.
Virchow touches on the subject in his report, " Reinigung und Entwasserung
Berlins," p. 75; but the following is a better example of the result, derived from
a classification of the inhabitants of Barmen, as given by Dr. Sander, in his
"Handbuch der offentlichen Gesundheitspflege," p. 106.
Average doath-rntr—
Income Population. 5 years (1*70-74).
0— £30 54,559 34$
£30-£75 8,421 19
£75— £150 2,612 18
above £150 1,693 16^
Dr. J. B. Russell on Filth-Diseases in Town and Country. 33
It is the absence of the sewer-connection by sink and water-closet
with the internal atmosphere of a large proportion of the one and
two apartment houses which removes their inhabitants from tho
action of this law, so far as diphtheria and enteric fever are con-
cerned. If every house of each size were connected alike with the
drains and sewers, then I am sure the diseases specially associated
with such misplaced connections would conform to the general law,
and be at their maximum in the smallest houses. On the other
hand, and this is the practical issue of these facts, I am also con-
vinced that if we banish water-closets from the inside of our small-
sized houses j if we make their sinks discharge in the open air over
a gulley in the court ; if we thoroughly revise at sight of competent
public officers all water-closets and sewer-connections in our largo
houses and on common stairs, or wherever found ; if we ventilate
our sewers and house drains on the separate system, and entirely
give up using cistern water for dietetic purposes, we shall reduce our
mortality from diphtheria and enteric fever to the lowest possible
minimum. Even with all the outrageous blunders of position and
construction in our largest and best houses, and without that official
inspection of new buildings in regard to details of sanitary arrange-
ment which ought to be instituted, you have seen that in these
houses, in the four years, 1873-7G, the mortality from diphtheria was
only 126 per million, and from enteric fever 186, rates which are
far below those which constantly prevail in the majority of purely
country districts, as depicted on those diagrams, and also much
below the mortality from enteric fever in small houses which have
no sewer connections whatever. But how do those diseases occur
in houses with no sewer connection ? If we find that 17 per cent.
of all the cases of diphtheria, and 21 per cent, of all the cases of
enteric fever arise in houses which arc destitute of those channels
of access, which are so freely blamed with all that happens inside
houses which have those channels of access, then it is clearly illogical
to continue so to blame them. We must look elsewhere for the
cause, to importation ' by contaminated food, possibly to ill con-
ditioned ash-pits, and while putting themselves in order, our cities
There is therefore a falling death-rate with a rising income, but manifestly the
income does not cover all the elements which regulate the death-rate, and I
fancy the house-rent would develop a much more intimate relation. It is that
portion of income devoted to supplying tho prime necessary of life — a house to
live in. Therefore it gives expression to those vices which divert income from
its legitimate uses, as well as to those virtues which have the opposite
tendency.
Vol. XL— No. 1. n
34 Philosophical Society of Glasgow.
must push for an improvement in the local sanitary organisation of
the country, which will relieve them of a constant source of danger.
The power which shall move the dry bones of rural sanitary au-
thorities must come from within the towns ; and I would recommend
the subject to the attention of our City Members as one which is,
without doubt, "within the sphere of practical politics."
V. — On the Regeneration of t/ie Sulphur employed in the Alkali
Manufacture, as conducted at the Works of Messrs. Charles
Tennant & Co., St. RoUox, by the "Mactear" process. By
James Mactear, F.C.S., London and Paris.
[Read before the Chemical Section, November 26, 1877.]
Notwithstanding the beauty of the Leblanc process of alkali
manufacture, there remains the reproach against it, so often made
by those who consider it solely from a theoretical point of view,
that the two raw materials, sulphur and lime, are both (with
trifling exception) completely lost as waste products, and not only
are they lost, but they form a refuse material which is of the most
objectionable character.
So far theory, whilst practically there is perhaps in all the wide
.range of industrial methods, no more perfect and simple a process
than that of Leblanc.
That this objection to the process still exists is not due to want
of appreciation of the facts, because the amount of research and
experiment that has been expended on the subject is almost beyond
belief. Almost every chemist, even remotely connected with the
alkali manufacture, has at one time or other of his career attacked
the problem, although in most cases with but scant success.
The attention of investigators seems primarily to have been
turned in two directions : —
1st. Towards the production and subsequent utilisation of
sulphuretted hydrogen from the alkali waste.
2nd. Towards the production of hyposulphites from the sulphur
compounds of the waste.
This ultimately leading to the production of sulphur
from mixtures of sulphides and hyposulphites by decom-
position with hydrochloric acid.
Mr. Mactear on the Regeneration of Sulphur.
35
Many talented inventors have worked out processes which
theoretically would enable the noxious waste to be turned into
marketable commodities ; but more than this is required : a process,
to be a success, must be one which will yield a profit on the capital
employed, and it is this question of cost that has rendered useless,
for the present at least, such methods as that of the late Mr.
Gossage, whose labours in connection with the subject of sulphur
recovery, as well as the capital he so unsuccessfully expended,
entitle him to the foremost place amongst those whose names are
connected with this subject. In his own words before the Royal
Commission on Noxious Vapours in 1862, " he had devoted thirty
years of his life and a fortune " to the pursuit of this idea.
Scheurer Kestner, in an elegant and interesting paper published
in the Bulletin de la Societe IndustrieUe de Midhouse, gives an
outline of various processes suggested up to 1868, where we find
the names of
Gossage.
Delamaure,
Kopp.
Losh.
Noble.
Favre.
Spencer.
To these must be added the names of
Fowler.
Duclos.
Blair <fc Watson.
Hills.
Townsend «fc Walker.
Mond.
Guckelberger.
Leighton.
schaffner.
Hoffman.
J. L. Bell.
JULLION.
Mactear.
And to these again many others whose names are to be found
chiefly in the lists of patents.
Of all these processes, only four — those of Mond, Schaffner,
Hoffman, and Mactear — have been worked on anything like a large
scale with success ; the first and last of these being by far the most
successful.
The process of Mr. Mond has been described very fully and
clearly by the inventor in a paper read before the British Association
in 1868 at Norwich, and also in papers read before the Glasgow
Philosophical Society and the Newcastle-on-Tyne Chemical Society,
and these may be referred to for details.
36 Philosophical Society of Glasgow.
Briefly stated, the process deals with the waste produced in the
alkali manufacture, in promoting the partial oxidation of the sulphur
and calcium compounds by forcing air through a mass of waste, then
washing out the soluble compounds thus formed with water, and
decomposing with hydrochloric acid.
It was stated in the paper above referred to, that the sulphur
could be thus recovered at a cost of 20/ per ton. This statement
was made before the process had been sufficiently worked on a large
scale to enable the cost to be ascertained, and is much under the
mark ; indeed, when all the elements of cost have been added, it
will be found that the cost of one ton of sulphur actually produced
will be not much — if any — under 80/ per ton.
The "Mactear" process owes its origin to the great nuisance
produced by the natural oxidation of the enormous heaps of alkali
waste, and its subsequent lixiviation either by rainfall or by springs
under the heaps, and differs in the first instance from Mond's
process, in that it proposes simply to deal with the drainage liquors
from the deposits, and not by any special separate treatment of
the waste.
The principle on which all these processes for the recovery of the
sulphur have been based is identical, and lies in the decomposition
of sulphuretted hydrogen by sulphurous acid, or such decompositions
as are to all intents and purposes equal to this.
It is of course necessary that the lime sulphur compounds must
be in such proportions that on the addition of hydrochloric acid
with proper precaution, there shall be practically no evolution of
sulphuretted hydrogen; and in Mond's process it has been found
extremely difficult to obtain in practice liquors of tho required
composition; and if the workmen are at all careless, there is apt to
be a considerable evolution of sulphuretted hydrogen.
In the "Mactear" process the apportionment of the various sul-
phur compounds is very simple, and the evolution of sulphuretted
hydrogen, except in cases of the most gross carelessness, is very
slight indeed. Although this process has until very recently only
been in use at the works of Messrs. Charles Tennant & Co. at St.
Rollox, yet by it more sulphur has been recovered than by any
other process hitherto introduced.
The heaps of alkali waste at tho St. Rollox Works have been
accumulating for over forty years, and are chiefly deposited on the
surface of an old "bog" or "peat moss," which has been formed in a
natural basin in sandstone rock. This bog is of large extent, and
contains many springs of water, which, rising up under the waste,
Mr. Mactear an the Regeneration of Sulphur. 37
dissolve out the soluble sulphur compounds, and give rise to a large
flow of what is commonly called "yellow liquor," which is a com-
plex sulphide of calcium, holding also in solution free sulphur.
This liquor was for many years allowed to flow with the natural
drainage of the land into a stream called the "Pinkston Burn,"
which, after traversing a considerable portion of the city of Glasgow
as a covered sewer, falls into the river Kelvin at some little distance
from its junction with the Clyde. This burn in its course receives
liquid refuse of all sorts other than mere sewage, notably refuse
from distilleries, and these being acid, gave off from the sulphide of
calcium liquors sulphuretted hydrogen in such quantities as to give
rise to a most intolerable nuisance, of which the public had good
reason to complain.
The writer's two predecessors in the management of the works
of Messrs. Charles Tennant & Co., the late Messrs. C. T. Dunlop
and John Tennent, used their best endeavours to abate or remove
the cause of complaint; but in the then state of knowledge it was
not found possible to overcome it, although a large sum of money
was expended in the attempts.
An effort to abate the evil by intercepting the springs of water
which were supposed to exist under the deposits was made — a
shaft being sunk to the sandstone rock some 40 or 50 feet in
depth, and a series of mines or galleries were then driven in
various directions, extending in one direction to nearly 300 yards,
and following up all water sources that were met with. A large
amount of water was thus drained off, and it was pumped out of
the mine and run away. This was continued night and day for
years, and must no doubt have decreased the amount of sulphide
of calcium liquor, which however existed still to the extent of
about 30,000 gallons per day, of from 11° to' 14° Twaddell.
The rainfall of Glasgow being about 42 inches per annum, and
one inch of water being equal very nearly to 100 tons per acre,
the amount of drainage due to the rainfall alone, supposing half
the total amount of rain to pass through the mass of waste (which
is of rather a porous nature), would be very nearly 1300 gallons
per acre per day. The deposits covered at this period about 10
acres, so that there would be equal to at least 13,000 gallons per
day due to rainfall alone.
The damp climate of Glasgow thus adds to the difficulties in
the way of utilising the waste and prevention of nuisance.
In the year 1864 an iron pipe of some 9 inches diameter was
laid direct from the St. Eollox Works to the River Clyde, and the
38 Philosophical Society of Glasgow.
sulphide of calcium liquors were thereafter run away by this
channel — a large reservoir being constructed to enable the liquid
to be stored up, so that it might only be allowed to flow away
into the river while flooded with rain, which in our climate is
not seldom.
Still the nuisance, although it had been removed altogether
from the district in which it had formerly given such cause of
complaint, was only transferred in a lessened degree to another,
and serious complaints were made as to smell, and also as to an
alleged action of the water of the Clyde on the copper sheathing
of the ships which lay in the river. The late Professor Anderson
made an investigation, and prepared a long and interesting report
on the subject for the Clyde Trustees in 1865, and thereafter,
year by year, pressure was brought to bear on the Messrs. Tennant
by the authorities, in order to force them to take such steps
as were possible to prevent nuisance arising from this drain-
age.
And here it is worth considering one of the greatest difficulties
in dealing with a question of this kind. It is this : —
The drainage comes chiefly from heaps of waste which have
been some time deposited, not from the fresh waste, and if the
usual cry of the aggrieved public were to be acted upon, and the
works abolished or forced to remove, the drainage would still
remain, and continue for years to be as great a nuisance as before ;
indeed, were an alkali work compelled to close on account of its
waste heap drainage nuisance, there would be no hope whatever
of the nuisance being reduced for years to come. On the other
hand, by such a process as that now in use at St. Rollox, the
alkali work, while it produces hydrochloric acid, can utilise this
waste drainage liquor without nuisance ; and thus the best means
of removing cause of complaint of alkali waste drainage, is by
encouraging the alkali works to remain and to undertake the
production of sulphur.
In the year 1867 the writer's firm erected plant for the sulphur
recovery process of Mr. Mond, which we proposed working on a
modified system, in which the drainage liquors were to be used
instead of water for lixiviating the oxidised waste.
So far as the production of sulphur was concerned, this process
succeeded admirably; but the evolution of sulphuretted hydrogen,
when the liquors were not of exactly the correct proportions for
decomposition, and also that given off during the oxidation of the
waste, which, in the large scale on which the process was employed
Mr. Mactear on tlie Regeneration of Sulphur. 39
at the St. Rollox Works, was considerable, caused serious com-
plaints in the immediate neighbourhood of the works.
The very large amount of plant required also, and the fact that
it was not found possible to work up by it all the drainage
liquors, induced the writer to again carefully study the subject in
all its bearings ; and after a long series of experiments, many of
them, like those of former workers in the same direction, failures,
he succeeded in developing the process which has been so success-
fully worked at St. Rollox, and bears his name.
As has been said, the principle of all the processes for the
recovery of sulphur from alkali waste lies in the mutual decom-
position of sulphuretted hydrogen and sulphurous acid.
The "Mactear" process depends on the decomposition of the
sulphides of calcium by hydrochloric acid, in the presence of a
source of sulphurous acid.
The process has various modifications, each of which is appli-
cable under special circumstances : —
1st. The drainage liquor usually called "yellow liquor" is
mixed with a small proportion of lime, and then treated
with sulphurous acid, which it absorbs, giving a small
quantity of sulphur. The liquid containing this sulphur
in suspension is then decomposed at a temperature of
about 140° Fahr.
This method gives good results, but is difficult to
regulate, and is subject to the same objection as Mond's
process, in that it is difficult to regulate the composition
of the liquors, even when only a portion of the yellow
liquor is treated with sulphurous acid, and then mixed
with the remaining portion and hydrochloric acid.
It is also, in consequence of this difficulty, apt to
give rise to an evolution of sulphuretted hydrogen, and
cause a nuisance.
2nd. The modification actually worked for the past five years
is that of using a solution of sulphurous acid in water.
This is obtained either from pyrites, or from the refuse
sulphur from the process.
The condensing towers are built of wood, common
flooring boards, well jointed, and bound with iron
corner pieces and tie rods. These towers after five
years' use, seem at this date almost as good, and the
wood as fresh as when new.
These towers are filled with coke in three stages,
40 Philosophical Society of Glasgmo.
strong cross joists dividing the tower into three divisions.
A tray, with a large number of little tubes of lead,
covered over with lutes to avoid entrance of air, divides
the water into fine streams, and the sulphurous acid gas
is then led up one tower, down to the bottom, and up
another tower.
The solution of sulphurous acid in water, in practice,
is only of about 2° Twaddell, and in this lies the worst
feature of this modification of the process — viz., the
heating to the proper temperature for decomposition of
such a large bulk of liquid.
The solution of sulphurous acid is led, by means of a
wooden shute, to the decomposing vessels, and is mixed
on its way with a stream of the yellow liquor, or sul-
phide of calcium; it then runs into the decomposing
vessel, where it is met by a stream of hydrochloric acid,
the whole kept carefully at as near 145° Fahr. as
possible ; with moderate care, little sulphuretted hydro-
gen is evolved, and the decomposition is regulated in
the easiest manner by a very simple means of testing : —
a burette is fixed to a wooden upright, and filled with
the yellow liquor, a sample is drawn from the decom-
posing vessel, a drop of solution of sulphate of iron
added, and then the yellow liquor run in from the
burette; the number of divisions required to blacken
the solution indicate the acid still present.
The sulphur is allowed to settle, and the clear liquor
run off through a catch pit, so as to retain any sulphur
that might otherwise be lost ; and after some five or six
operations, the sulphur sludge is run oft" into a drainer.
After draining into a stiffish mud, it is transferred to a melting
vessel, where it is melted by steam, and, if necessary, the arsenic
removed by an application of the well-known fact that alkaline
sulphides dissolve sulphide of arsenic. This process was first
applied at St. Rollox in 1869, while working Mond's process, and
has been adopted by almost all those manufacturers who recover
sulphur. It has the drawback, however, that it also removes a
quantity of sulphur, which is of course just so much loss.
The plant required is simple, and, looking at the results obtained,
very inexpensive.
It consists of —
1st. Pumping arrangement and cistern for the yellow liquor.
Mr. Mactear on the Regeneration of Sulphur. 41
2nd. Kilns for burning pyrites or sulphur, and producing SO*.
3rd. Condensing towers and water supply.
* 4th. Steam boiler.
5th. Wooden decomposers, with stirring gear.
6th. Wooden drainers for the sulphur.
7 th. Steam melting arrangements.
And the following is an estimate of the cost of the plant now at
work at St. Rollox : —
Mactear' s Sulphur Recovery Process.
Cost op Plant.
To Produce 30 to 35 Tons Weekly.
Sulphur burners, £38 0 0
Cast-iron tunnel, 130 0 0
Lead tunnel, 22 0 0
Scaffolding for pipes, 16 0 0
Condensing to were, 162 0 0
Pipes and fittings, &c, 35 0 0
Wooden decomposing vessels, 163 0 0
Engine and gearing, 160 0 0
Valves, runs, taps, &&, 64 0 0
Water tank, 24 0 0
Steam and water pipes, 50 0 0
Pumping engine, 40 0 0
Steam boilers 600 0 0
Brickwork and fittings, 1 10 0 0
Melters and fittings, 151 0 0
Square draining tanks, 120 0 0
Roofs, 134 0 0
£2019 0 0
All this plant is substantially erected, and likely to last for many
years, with ordinary repair.
It is capable of making 35 tons of sulphur weekly, from yellow
liquors of about 11° Twaddell; when less than this strength, the
increased bulk of liquid prevents the necessary amount being
worked in the decomposers.
The following statement shows the cost of manufacturing one ton,
with the consumpt of coals, acid and pyrites : —
42
Philosophical Society of Glasgow.
Detailed Cost of One Ton of Sulphur by
"Mactear" Process.
1
Cwt Qr. Lb.
Rats.
Cost. 1
1 Pyrites Sulphur, ....
8 0 25
39/
16-03/ j
' Salt, *
35 1 18
16/
2833/ !
Vitriol,
29 3 27
30/
45-00/
Coal,
114 2 7
4-4/
25-20/
Repairs,
• • •
4-00/
Wages,
• • •
38-50/
157*06/
Off Sulphate of Soda, .
, Net Cost of One Tod of Sulphur, .
39 0 21
49/
•• •
96-01/
61-05/
It will be seen that the cost, which is based on an experience of
five years, and extracted from the annual accounts of my firm,
shows that a ton of sulphur has been made for an expenditure of
about Gl/ per ton. In this nothing is charged for hydrochloric
acid ; it is usual to treat hydrochloric acid in this way when used
in the manufacture of bleaching powder, and therefore it is the
proper way to compare the results on the same basis.
We may assume that the Weldon process is the one by which
bleaching powder is now almost universally made, and that it
requires in the usual practice the acid of
55 cwts. of salt to 20 cwts. of bleaching powder.
If we take the lowest cost of bleaching powder as being
£5, 10/ per ton,
and compare it with sulphur, when
36 cwts. of salt yields 20 cwts. of sulphur,
at a cost of, say £3, 5/
we have —
Cost. Prick.
Bleaching Powder, . £5 10 £7 0
Sulphur, ... 35 6 10
Or, for each one ton of salt decomposed, the profit obtained will be —
In the case of bleaching powder,
say 11/,
while in the case of sulphur it will amount to,
say 36/,
a larger profit in favour of the manufacture of sulphur to the
extent of
25/ per ton of salt
used in producing the acid required for its manufacture.
Margin.
£1 10
3 5
Mr. Mactear on the Regeneration of Sulphur. 43
These figures will of course be modified from time to time by the
market price of the articles, and also by their comparative costs.
It will at once be seen that the manufacture of sulphur by this
process is a much more profitable means of using hydrochloric acid
than is the manufacture of bleaching powder, and I am of opinion
that it will long continue so, because, in the first place, Sicilian
sulphur cannot be reduced much below its present price without
shutting up some of the mines, and reducing considerably the
production there; and secondly, the effect of the Alkali Acts and
recent Royal Commission has been to increase the manufacture of
bleaching powder, and by an excess of production over demand, to
keep the price at a point at which it is no longer remunerative to
the manufacturer.
So far as the question of removal of nuisance is concerned, this
process has been amply successful in dealing with the sulphide of
calcium liquors which used to flow into the Clyde from our works ;
and on the last occasion on which a complaint of smell was made,
it was traced to the escape of coal gas, which, owing to some
accident at the City Gasworks, had been allowed to pass into the
pipes unpurified for some little time; the gas escaped into the sewer,
and a series of complaints of the frightful nuisance of those chemical
works was the result. As the complaints came not only from the
neighbourhood of the works and the sewers in connection therewith,
but also from the other side of the river, the town authorities
traced the complaint to its real source, and exonerated us from all
blame in the matter.
3rd. The third modification of this process is intended for use
when the liquors are very weak in strength, say 5° to
8° Twaddell, in which case the cost of fuel becomes much
enhanced.
It consists in obtaining a stronger solution of sul-
phurous acid by the production of a bisulphite of lime,
or at least of a solution of sulphite of lime in sulphurous
acid, which is used just as the sulphurous acid solution
in the second modification is employed.
As the old waste contains large quantities of sulphite
of lime, it is utilised in this modification of the process
by grinding it in water to a milk, and treating this with
sulphurous acid ; thus obtaining a solution of sulphite of
lime in sulphurous acid, and thus reducing considerably
the amount of sulphur required to form sulphurous
acid.
44 Philosophical Society of Glasgow.
More hydrochloric acid is of course required by this
method, but it has great advantages to recommend it.
There can be no doubt that the application of one or other of the
modifications of the " Mactear " process to the waste drainage from
the heaps at the great centres of the alkali trade, such as Widnes
and St. Helens, would reduce veiy greatly the nuisance complained
of there.
The St. Helens manufacturers have recently decided not to put
any acid drainage into the celebrated Sankey Brook, and this will
lead to its utilisation in one way or another. The most probable
direction for it to take is that of the manufacture of bleaching
powder, an article of which I am sorry to say there is at present a
very great over-production.
Were, for instance, a combination of manufacturers along the
course of the Sankey Brook to collect the drainage liquors, pump
them to a convenient spot (in which my experience of nearly ten
years shows there is little difficulty), and treat them with the acid
of either one or various works, obtained by arrangement, I am con-
fident the nuisance complained of in that district would be much
reduced, and a handsome profit realised by the manufacturers.
VI. — On an Improved System of Alkali Manufacture.
By James Mactear, F.C.S., London and Paris.
[Read before the Chemical Section, November 26, 1S77.J
What is usually called the " Alkali Manufacture " is in reality a
group of chemical processes, constituting by far the most important
of all the great chemical industries of the day.
Although in outline the process is well described in most text-
books, it will not be out of place to give a short sketch of the general
scope of the manufacture.
We may leave out of consideration altogether the so-called am-
monia process, which, although at work in two establishments in
England, can never be more than a mere fraction of the whole
manufacture, unless under most extraordinary conditions as
regards ammonia and common salt.
Mr. Mactear on Alkali Manufacture. 45
The group of processes which together form the alkali manufacture
may be stated thus : —
1st. Production of sulphuric acid.
2nd. Decomposition of common salt by the sulphuric acid, with
the production of sulphate of soda and hydrochloric acid.
3rcL The utilisation of the hydrochloric acid, either for the
manufacture of bleaching powder, chlorate of potash,
bicarbonate of soda, or sulphur (recovered from the
waste produced in the final process of the alkali manu-
facture).
4th. The conversion of the sulphate of soda, by its decompo-
sition with carbon and carbonate of lime, into carbonate
of soda and sulphide of calcium, and the subsequent
separation of these two compounds by lixiviation with
water.
We are indebted to the genius and skill of Leblanc and his asso-
ciate Diz6 for the combination of processes we now employ ; and,
except in the improved construction of the apparatus, until very
recently the process remained identical with that used by Leblanc
and his followers during a period of over three quarters of a
century, notwithstanding the constant researches of chemists and
manufacturers.
The improvement in the stages of the manufacturing of sulphate
of soda and condensation of hydrochloric acid, as well as those of
sulphuric acid and bleaching powder, I do not intend to enlarge
upon, proposing to confine myself to the production of alkali from
sulphate of soda.
The character of the decomposition which takes place has been
studied by many of the most celebrated chemists, amongst whom
Liebig gave a considerable amount of attention to the subject, and
invented a process for the production of alkali, which is not gene-
rally known; it was based on the decomposition of woody fibre, in the
form of sawdust, by sulphide of sodium, and he thought so highly of
it that he took steps to protect it both in this country and in France
by a patent — it, however, whilst very beautiful as a theoretical
process, failed completely on a manufacturing scale.
The theory that an excess of lime was absolutely necessary to the
formation of an insoluble compound of calcium and sulphur was a
favourite one for many years, and appears in many forms, the varia-
tions in the formulae depending, as we can easily see, on the propor-
tions of carbonate of lime used in the decomposition. This theory
was dissipated by Gossage and others, but yet it was always found
46 Philosophical Society of Glasgow.
necessary to use an excess of limestone over that which their
explanation showed to be necessary, and in practice there was
commonly used a mixture of —
Sulphate (commercial), .... 100
Limestone, . .108
Coal, . . . . . . 50 to 60
The only change of any magnitude that had been introduced up
to the year 1873 was the system proposed by Messrs. Stevenson and
Williamson, of the Jarrow Chemical Works, who, having adopted
the improved form of furnace (described farther on), patented the
method of heating the limestone and a portion of the coal for some
time, so as to produce a small proportion of caustic lime, after which
the sulphate of soda and the remainder of the coal was added, and
the decomposition then finished as usual.
The introduction of the furnace originally invented by Messrs.
Elliott <fe Russell, which is a cylinder of iron lined with brick, and
made to revolve on bearing wheels, was a great advance, but the
furnaces being of small size and defective construction at first, did
not succeed as was expected. From time to time this class of fur-
nace has been improved, however, and from the small one originally
erected, which worked some 10 tons per day, we have now furnaces
of a modified form, which I designed in 1873, working 50 tons per
day with ease. This great increase of power has not, however, been
attained altogether by the altered construction of the furnace, but
to the extent of at least one-third by the adoption of the improved
system of manufacture which I have introduced, and which I now
proceed to describe.
Having studied carefully the various theories of the decomposi-
tion taking place in the production of alkali, I became clearly of
opinion, that the use of more than an equivalent of carbonate of
lime was perfectly unnecessary, in so far as the decomposition of the
sulphate was concerned.
All attempts to produce alkali to advantage on this basis were
quite unsuccessful, owing to the great insolubility of the black
ash thus produced. The decomposition I satisfied myself was quite
perfect, however, and I had thus the problem reduced to that of the
lixiviation. It occurred to me that, if by any simple means the
black ash could be broken up while exposed to the water used in
the lixiviation, this difficulty of the insolubility of the black ash
would be got over; and having established that the solubility of the
black ash seemed to depend very much on the amount of caustic
Mr. Mactear on Alkali Manufacture. 47
soda existing in the liquors, and this again in the excess of lime-
stone used, I came to the conclusion that if caustic lime in pieces
were distributed through the] mass of black ash, this in slaking
would rend the balls in pieces, and allow the lixiviation to proceed
satisfactorily. Having tried this on the large scale, I found it suc-
ceed perfectly, and the improved process as now worked is based on
this principle.
It is conducted thus : — The sulphate of soda, with a quantity of
carbonate of lime equal to as nearly as possible one equivalent, and
a proportion of coal which varies a little with the quality in various
districts, is placed in the furnace, which is made to revolve rather
slowly at first, the usual melting and decomposition of the sulphate
takes place, and when all the sulphate has been decomposed, which
is known by various signs, the furnace is stopped and a quantity
of caustic lime, in small pieces, is dropped in ; the furnace is then
set agoing again, and the lime rapidly mixed through the charge,
which is then withdrawn as rapidly as possible. It is sometimes
necessary to add with the lime some coal, or even cinders, in order
to keep the ball as porous as possible. This depends very much on
the quality of the coal, which ought to be of such a nature as to
leave a considerable quantity of carbonaceous matter in the waste :
this, in the ordinary system of working, usually amounts to about
10 per cent, on the waste, which equals about 20 per cent, on the
coal used in the mixture.
By the use of ashes or cinders, which I recommend, there is, of
course, a considerable saving in coal.
The advantages of this very simply conducted process are very
great.
Firstly. — By its use the output of the furnaces has been increased
from 50 to 70 per cent.
Secondly. — There is a large saving in limestone and coal.
Thirdly. — There is a much reduced quantity of waste.
Fottrthly. — There is a considerably increased yield of alkali from
a given quantity of sulphate of soda.
(1.) As regards the increased output from a given furnace, this
not only gives greater productive power to the plant,
but results in a considerable saving of wages — the weight
of total material per ton of sulphate of soda used being
reduced by some 20 per cent., it naturally follows that the
weight handled being less, so also are the costs of labour.
(2.) The limestone in excess in the ordinary process of Leblancy
as usually worked, gives considerable infusibility to the
48 Philosophical Society of Glasgow.
mass, and necessitates greater consumpt of coal for its
fusion; whereas in my system the quantity is reduced as
low as possible, and the fusibility of the mixture being
much increased, there results a considerable saving in
fuel.
(3.) The reduction in the quantity of waste (about 30 per cent)
is of advantage in various ways.
(a.) The quantity being less, and the percentage of alkali left
after lixiviation being no more than on the old system,
there is, of course, a gain of alkali, estimated at about 1 J
per cent.
(b.) The cost of removal of the waste and its deposit is the
source of a considerable expense to manufacturers, and is,
of course, exactly in proportion to the weight produced;
so that, if there is 30 per cent, less waste produced, there
ought to be 30 per cent, of the cost of removal saved,
(c.) As it is almost certain that the production of sulphur from
alkali waste will before long form one of the regular
processes of an alkali work, owing to the necessity of
condensing and utilising all the muriatic acid, for which
there is at present only, it may be said, an outlet in the
manufacture of bleaching powder, it is clearly of great
advantage to have the waste in a form in which there is
as little as possible of useless material, such as carbonate
of lime, and which may therefore be the more easily
dealt with in the way of oxidation, &c
(4.) The reduced quantity of waste also gives, as above, an
increase in yield of alkali ; but beyond this there is also
the fact that better decomposition of the sulphate of soda
is obtained, as might be expected, from the greater fusi-
bility, and therefore liquidity, of the molten mass, which
renders the agitation and mixture more complete.
This process has now been in use for some years at the works of
my firm (Messrs. Charles Tennant & Co.), and has also been
adopted with marked benefit by various large manufacturers both in
this country and in France.
The amount of saving stated in money varies with the costs of
raw material and labour, but may be said to range from five shillings
to ten shillings per ton of soda ash, calculated as containing 48 per
cent of alkali.
Mr. J. Barlow on tU Contraction of Muscle. 49
VII. — Observations on the Contraction of Muscle on Stimulation of
Nerve. By John Barlow, M.B., M.R.C.S.E., Muirhead
Demonstrator of Physiology, University of Glasgow.
[Read before the Society, February 20, 1878.]
The essayist directed attention more especially to the stimulation
of nerve by a constant galvanic current of electricity.
He showed that at the moment of sending the electrical current
through the nerve, and at the moment of breaking the current, the
muscle, to which the nerve was attached, contracted. Attention
was directed to the fact that during the passage of the constant
current the muscle did not contract. Evidence was given showing
that the current of electricity did not pass down the nerve to the
muscle and stimulate the muscle to contract, but that the current of
electricity had excited some change of a molecular nature, and that
this change, travelling along the nerve at a rate of from 100 to 200'
feet per second, excited the muscular contraction.
The only change observed in the properties of the nerve during
the passage of this wave (the nerve influence or current) is a change*
in the electrical condition of the nerve. Corresponding in time of
appearance and in rapidity of movement with the nerve current,
there is found to be a diminution or negative variation of the
current of electricity which is normally present in the quiescent
condition.
During the passage of a constant current through the nerve,
changes occur in the properties of the nerve, but there is no nerve
influence generated. Changes are observed in the excitability, in
the conductivity, and in the electro-motive force of the nerve.
The excitability and conductivity of the nerve are increased in
the portion of nerve near the negative pole or cathode, and they are
diminished in the portion of nerve near the anode. The method
of showing this alteration in the excitability and conductivity of the
nerve was demonstrated and explained, and tracings obtained by the
graphic method were exhibited. The electro-motive force is dimin-
ished in the neighbourhood of the cathode, and increased in the
neighbourhood of the anode.
Vol. XI.— No. 1. *
50 Philosophical Society of Glasgow.
Attention was directed to the different results which had been
observed on stimulating nerve with a constant current. Hitter and
Nobili, the first observers, thought that the different results depended
upon the vitality of the nerve. They said also that if a constant
current was sent along a nerve in a direction upwards, or away from
the muscle, the strongest contraction, and perhaps the only one,
would be that following the breaking of the current ; whereas if
the current be sent down the nerve, the strongest contraction would
be the one following the closing of the circuit. These were spoken
of as the opening and closing contractions.
Pfliiger, after experimenting upon the point, concluded that the
contractions produced by stimulation of a fresh nerve depended
upon the strength and direction of the current. He found that
when he stimulated the nerve with a weak constant current, he
obtained a closing contraction, and no opening contraction, and this
occurred whether the current was sent up or down the nerve.
With a stronger current sent up and down the nerve he obtained :i
closing and opening contraction. With a very strong current sent
up the nerve he obtained a contraction on opening, and none upon
closing the current ; but with the current sent down the nerve
he obtained a closing contraction only. Hitter, Heidenhain, and
Wundt obtained, with a weak descending current, a contraction
upon opening and none upon closing the current.
In repeating these experiments, the essayist employed Marey's
myograph, by means of which he was able to observe, very easily,
differences in the amount of contraction produced. He employed
as a very weak current a Grove's element, and introduced resis-
tance [into the circuit. The resistance employed was a long
glass tube filled with distilled water. The ends of two wires
were passed through the corks which closed the ends of the
tube, and by approximating the ends of the wires the amount of
resistance to be overcome by the current could be diminished. He
found that when the ends of the wires were separated from each
other by 15 inches of water, that a current was obtained of suffi-
cient strength to stimulate the nerve. If care was taken in prepar-
ing the nerve, the closing contraction only was produced by such
stimulation. The amount of resistance offered by 15 inches of water
equals 1,500,000 Ohms. Tracings were exhibited which showed
results which were in accordance with those of Pfliiger. In con-
clusion, the law of contraction, which Pfliiger formulated from the
results which he observed, was mentioned and explained. Cyon's
modification of the law was also given. The essayist was of opinion
Dk. J. Doug all on the Disinfection of Enteric Excreta. 51
that if the nerve was protected from irritation during preparation,
and if care was taken to regulate the amount of electricity, that no
great difficulty would be experienced in obtaining Pfltiger's results ;
and he was also of opinion that the law of contraction, as proposed
by Pfluger and modified by Cyon, was the best explanation which we
at present possess of the different results observed on stimulating a
nerve with a constant galvanic current.
VIII. — An Experiment on the Disinfection of Enteric Excreta. By
John Douoall, M.D., F.F.P.S.G., Lecturer on Materia
Medica in the Glasgow Royal Infirmary School of Medicine.
[Read before the Society, February 20, 187a]
Iw the sixth Public Health Report of the Medical Officer of the
Privy Council for 1875 is an extremely able account by Dr. Baxter
of an experimental study of certain disinfectants. Mr. Simon in
his preface states that the investigation was carefully planned by
Dr. Baxter and Dr. Burdon Sanderson. It may be mentioned that
in these experiments three infective poisons, viz., that of glanders,
that of vaccine, and that of intensified or infective inflammation,
were submitted to the action of four alleged disinfectants, viz., per-
manganate of potash, sulphurous acid, chlorine, and carbolic acid.
At the end of the Report the principal inferences which seemed
to flow from the results of the investigation are embodied in a series
of eleven propositions. In the fourth proposition it is stated that
" when permanganate of potash is used to disinfect a virulent liquid
containing much organic matter, or any compounds capable of
decomposing the permanganate, there is no security for the effectual
fulfilment of disinfection short of the presence of undecomposed
permanganate in the liquid after all chemical action has had time
to subside."
As this conclusion, which is founded on a great number of very
interesting experiments, seemed a safe basis for testing further, in
an easy and very practical manner, the disinfecting power of the
permanganate, I resolved to try, in the form of Condy's fluid, its
52 Philosophical Society of Glasgow.
strength with enteric excreta, this fluid being the state in which
the permanganate is almost exclusively used by the public The
experiment was conducted as follows : — To a newly passed charac-
teristic ochry-looking enteric stool, quantity unknown, a portion
of a known quantity of Condy's fluid was added. The mixture was
then stirred and set aside for a short time, and when the pink colour
had changed to a brown, more of the fluid was added and the pro-
cess repeated, till the pink colour was found permanent after the
lapse of twelve hours. In other words, chemical action in the mix-
ture had subsided, as indicated by the presence of the undecomposed
pinkish permanganate liquid. The mixture was now measured, and
the quantity of Condy's fluid used being known, this was subtracted
from the whole, thus showing the amount of faecal matter acted
on. To find the exact relation between the quantity of Condy's
fluid deoxidised and the amount of enteric faeces disinfected was
now a simple matter of calculation.
Avoiding fractions, it amounted to this (and I confess the result
astonished me), one ounce of the enteric faeces had deoxidised not
less than ten ounces of Condy's fluid ; in other words, there is no
security that enteric faecal matter is effectually disinfected by
( 'ondy's fluid, except the bulk of the fluid used is ten times as great
as the bulk of the enteric faeces to be disinfected.
In the same manner I experimented with a fluid ounce of
enteric urine, and here the result was, that one ounce of the urine
deoxidised at least two ounces of the Condy's fluid.
Now, supposing a typhoid patient passing 12 ounces of faecal
matter and 20 ounces of urine during each 24 hours, say for a week,
which it will be conceded are not excessive quantities, and suppos-
ing the Condy's fluid sold to the public in 8 ounce bottles at Is. each
is used, it follows that 280 ounces of Condy's fluid are required to
oxidise or disinfect the week's urine, which at Is. per 8 ounces
amounts to £1, 15s., and that 840 ounces are required to oxidise or
disinfect the week's faeces, which at Is. per 8 ounces amounts to
£5, 5s., in all £7 per week, or at the rate of £364 per annum.
Now, supposing an hospital with thirty enteric patients on an average
constantly under treatment, on these data it would take £10,920
worth of Condy's fluid to disinfect their yearly excretions.
Dr. Andrew Buchanan on Physical Life. 53
IX. — Physical Life. By Andrew Buchanan, M.D., President of
the Faculty of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow, and one
of the Vice-Presidents of the Glasgow Philosophical Society.
[Read before the Society, March 20, 1878.]
The paper which I now beg respectfully to submit to the considera-
tion of the Society is Part I. of a more extended memoir, bearing
the title " On the Nature, Origin, and Termination of Life, and the
Perpetuation of it by the Process of Generation."
A nice critic might object to the title now read as illogical, inas-
much as the first term (nature) contains implicitly the two subsequent
terms (origin and termination). Whoever understands the process
for making muriatic acid from common salt and sulphuric acid, under-
stands also, necessarily, how and for what reason the process begins,
and how and for what reason it comes to an end. It is the same
with every other process, whether simple or complicated, of which
the nature is fully understood ; and the employment of the whole
three terms, with respect to the process of life, must be regarded as
a tacit admission that while we understand sufficiently the nature of
certain parts in the middle of that process, there are other parts of
it of which our knowledge is much less satisfactory, and that these
relate to the initiation and termination of life, and the marvellous
perpetuation of it, by a physiological process, from one generation to
another.
It is impossible, according to my view, to form an adequate idea
of Life, or give any intelligible definition of it, without regarding
it under the two distinct forms of Physical Life and Conscious Life.
It has been from overlooking this distinction, and endeavouring to
grasp, by a single act of the mind, two separate subjects, as if they
were one and the same, that there has been so much obscurity and
difference of opinion as to the nature of the processes which con-
stitute life. Physical life rests entirely upon the principles of
physics, and, as will be shown farther on, primarily and mainly
throughout on the principles of chemistry. It is this form of life
which is to be the subject submitted for your consideration this
evening. But you will understand it better if I do not merely tell
54 Philosophical Society of Glasgow.
you what vital actions are included in it, but also those which are
excluded from it, and that cannot be better done than by explain-
ing to you, beforehand, what I understand by conscious life.
Conscious life co-exists with and is in harmonious adaptation to
physical life. It implies the presence in the conscious organism of
the principle we name " mind" which makes it aware of its own
existence, of its identity at successive periods of development, and
of its action and passion in moving, willing, feeling, perceiving, and
thinking.
According to my views, the two elements which taken together
constitute the living organism of man, are capable of acting inde-
pendently of each other, and in co-operation with each other.
When I demonstrate that the three angles of every triangle are
equal to two right angles, or that in a right-angled triangle the
square upon the side subtending the right angle is equal to the
sum of the squares upon the other two sides, I perform a purely
mental act with which the matter of my body has nothing to do
whatsoever. In the same way, the mind thinks by its own energy
alone when I speculate on what is true in any other department
of human thought, or when I sympathise with a good or noble
action, or admire what is beautiful in nature or in art. When,
on the other hand, the four cardinal elements combine together
within my body to form urea or uric acid, or when oxygen com-
bines with hydrogen or with carbon to form water or carbonic acid,
my mind is unconscious of and takes no share in any such process.
But both mind and body are called into action, and co-operate
harmoniously, when I examine objects attentively with my eyes
or the points of my fingers, or when I raise my arm or perform
any other muscular act in obedience to my will : and in both cases
the nervous system is the medium of communication between
the conscious mind and the material bodily organs ; transmitting
impulses in the former case from the periphery to the centre,
and in the latter from the centre to the periphery.
Conscious life belongs only to the higher organisms, and to them
only on their attaining to tho state of independent existence. It
has a close relationship to tho oxidative processes from which, in the
language of the present day, all energy proceeds; by which is meant
that they constitute the mainspring of those active powers of the
body which it is one of the chief offices of the mind to direct and con-
trol In man — and it is only in ourselves that consciousness can
be thoroughly understood — it first shows itself immediately after
birth, on the establishment of the function of respiration ; of the two
Dr. Andrew Buchanan on Physical Life. 55
actions constituting which we are never-failingly conscious so long
as we draw " the breath of life," or till our " last breath," or accord-
ing to innumerable other expressions to be found in all languages
denoting the inseparable connection universally recognised between
conscious life and the act of breathing. Previous to the establish-
ment of respiration it would be difficult to show that there is in the
foetus or the newly-born child either sensation or volition, and that
the few movements performed by them are not either automatic,
like those of the heart, or the effect of reflex nervous action, like
those of the limbs. Moreover, when their life is destroyed, it is like
the mere passive cessation of a physical process from derangement
of mechanism or failure of motive power ; whereas, no sooner has
respiration been established, than the young animal feels acutely
every interruption of its breathing, and struggles vigorously to
retain its life.
It may be argued from analogy that in all probability the com-
mencement of conscious life in all air-breathing animals is the same
as in man; while in animals lower in the zoological scale the
inquiry is beset with much greater difficulty.*
Physical life is so named because it rests entirely upon the prin-
ciples of physics, and more especially upon those physical principles
which we name chemical, as we see them displayed by the eighteen
simple substances that enter into the composition of living bodies,
and which exist also in inorganic nature, from which source all the
constituents of living bodies are directly or indirectly derived.
I subjoin a tabular view of the elementary chemical substances
out of which living bodies or organisms are formed. They are
divided into two classes, cardinal elements and complementary
elements. The cardinal elements are four in number, the comple-
mentary fourteen; but the former are quantitatively far more
abundant than the complementary, being usually in the proportion
of about 50 to 1, or 98 per cent, of the whole. They derive their
name from their being, as it were, the hinge on which the whole
vital fabric turns. The complementary elements, however, are not
less essential to living matter, which would be incomplete without
them, and they are named " complementary " from their being like
the complement of an angle which is necessary to make up a right
angle. They are divided into those which become acids with oxygen,
or with hydrogen ; and those which more readily assume the form
of bases.
* These paragraphs belong properly to the second part of this memoir, but
they are here inserted for the sake of greater distinctness.
56 Philosophical Society of Glasgow.
Elements of Organic Bodies.
I. Cardinal Elements. II. Complementary Elements.
Acidifiable.
Batifiabk.
£ Phosphorus.
Calcium.
CARBON.
Oxyacids J Sulphur.
Sodium.
HYDROGEN.
( Silicon.
Potassium.
OXYGEN.
f Chlorine.
Iron.
NITROGEN.
„ . . , 1 Fluorine.
Hydracd. j ^.^
Manganese.
Magnesium.
[ Bromine.
Aluminum.
It is upon the chemical properties and actions of the eighteen
simple elements just enumerated that physical life immediately
depends. It comprises the two parts of formative and oxidative
life. By the former the germ is formed and the organism developed,
while by the latter the organism is decomposed for the purpose of
educing its higher physical powers.
By their combinations and recombinations, the simple elements
form the numerous more complex substances to which we give the
name of proximate organic elements, and out of these the various
tissues and humours are made up which constitute the entire
organism. It is owing to the vast multitude of such organic com-
pounds that there is an equally vast number of organic forms ; for
just as the various kinds of inorganic matter affect, each as soon as
constituted, their own crystalline forms, so do the still more various
kinds of organic matter assume, as soon as they are produced,
their proper morphological characters of shape and arrangement
of parts. Still further, the structures so produced have neces-
sarily their peculiar mechanical and other physical properties, and
corresponding action on the bodies around them. Last of all, the
chemical actions that are continually going on within the organism
so long as life continues form the groundwork of all its higher
physical attributes, such as heat and cold, nervous power and
muscular contraction; just as we see the chemical action of muriatic
acid upon zinc exhibit itself in the form of heat, light, electricity, or
magnetism, according to the structure of the physical apparatus
through which it manifests its power.
It is thus manifest that the whole phenomena of life, apart from
consciousness, come fairly within the range of physical science, and
that all the actions of life have exact parallels in the actions going
on among inorganic bodies. It is also manifest, from what has been
said above, that physical life in its two great divisions of formative
Dr. Andrew Buchanan on Physical Life. 57
and oxidative life, consists primarily and mainly in chemical actions ;
and the question at once arises, whether physiologists have succeeded
in discovering what the chemical actions are in which physical
life essentially consists.
I give two answers in reply. The first will, I believe, be very
generally admitted by physiologists to be correct so far as it goes,
but it is not sufficiently comprehensive to include the whole pheno-
mena of physical life. I bring it forward, however, for two reasons :
the first is, that it is a complete answer to the question, In what
consists the physical life of the organism? and gives a concise and
accurate view, so far as it goes, of the chemical actions of life ; the
second is, that it is useful by its very deficiencies, and suggestive of
a truer answer.
I. My first answer, then, is this : The physical life of every
organism, at whatever stage of its development we contemplate it,
consists in a mutual exchange of chemical elements between the
organism and the ambient medium, denoting by the former term
the material substances of which the living body is made up at the
time of observation, and by the latter the material substances
which surround the body at all times, or which come into contact
with it from time to time, and so enter with it into those mutual
actions which constitute physical life, and occasion those normal
changes upon the composition and form of the body which we name
its development.
The easiest mode of forming an adequate conception of physical
life, as above defined, is to study the actions that take place in the
human body in the adult state. This arises from two causes : first,
from the actions of the human body having been much more care-
fully studied and better understood than those of any other living
organism; and still more, because for many years after man arrives
at maturity the weight of his body from day to day undergoes no
perceptible change in normal circumstances, from which it follows
that the exchange of chemical elements between the organism and
the ambient medium must be equal in each period of twenty-four
hours, and that, therefore, a diurnal balance can be made of the
assumpta and the excreta — that is, of the chemical elements that are
every day introduced into the body, and those that are every day
thrown off from it. This has always been to me the most interest-
ing part of physiology, because it is that which has most completely
assumed the scientific form, and it was always a pleasure to me in
lecturing upon physiology to discuss this part of it at full length.
But the purpose for which it is introduced in this place is quite dif-
58 Philosophical Society of Glasgow.
ferent, and will be sufficiently fulfilled by giving a tabular view of
the daily assumpts and excretions of the adult human body, for the
purpose of showing how exactly they correspond.
Daily Balance of the Assumpta and Excreta in
Adult Life.
ASSUMPTA. EXCRETA.
Oz. Av. i Sensible—
Solid, 40
liquid, 56
Gaseous, 22
118
Renal, .
Alvine, .
Exuvial,
Insensible —
Lungs.
Anhydrous solids, 16
Water, 80 i COa,
Oxygen, 22 OH2,
118
Cardinal elements, . .16
Complementary elements, . 0*25- *5
Water, 80
Absorbed oxygen, . .22
Skin,
OH2, .
Ok. At.
•
45*5
•
4*5
•
•5
60-5
27-
12-7
397
•
27-8
67*5
US
A table of this kind, exhibiting, in a general way, what are
the substances introduced daily into the human body, and under
what forms, and through what channels they are thereafter
expelled, gives a lively idea of the amount of chemical work daily
performed within the living body, and how broad a basis is thus
laid for the higher physical actions of the organism dependent on
that work. A still more complete view of the subject, however, is
obtained from similar tables, exhibiting a special balance of each
of the four cardinal elements, C, H, O, and N ; of the complementary
elements; and of water, the last of which exhibits the remarkable
peculiarity that there are about eight ounces more of water dis-
charged daily from the body than have been directly introduced
into it, which shows that quantity of water to be daily formed
within the body by the union of O and H.
One subject, however, requires explanation. I mean the very large
estimate that has been made of the insensible excretions, much
greater than the most trustworthy experiments warrant, and in
opposition to the rule established by Sanctorius, and since followed
for more than a century and a half, assuming the amount of the
Dr. Andrew Buchanan on Physical Life. 59
insensible excretions in twenty-four hours to be equal to the differ-
ence between the ingesta and the sensible excretions. This forms a
curious chapter in the history of physiology.
I may be allowed to explain to those members of our Society who
hare not studied physiology systematically, that by " ingesta " we
mean meat and drink : and that under the name of insensible excre-
tions we include the discharges from the skin and lungs : which are
called "insensible," because they cannot be directly weighed or
measured, but must be deduced from the weight of the body itself,
varying at successive periods of observation ; and which from their
being in the gaseous form, or in that of vapour, are usually denomi-
nated the " insensible perspiration."
The discovery of the Insensible Perspiration is one of the most
important ever made in Medicine, and completely 'disproves the
self-complacent assertions of those who at the present day assume
themselves to have been the first who ever employed the accurate
standard of the Balance in physiological investigations. The dis-
covery was made by Sanctorius, a physician of Venice, who
flourished at the beginning of the seventeeth century. He devoted
his whole after life to perfecting this discovery, spending his time
poised in a chair which told exactly the weight of his body, while
he ascertained accurately the weight of everything he introduced
into his body, or that came off from it in a sensible form. These
experiments attracted universal attention, and were repeated emu-
lously by physicians in all quarters of the globe ; and such a degree
of popularity did they acquire as to become a favourite amusement
of amaleurs — as, for instance, of our own King Charles II., who had a
suitable apparatus constructed, and performed experiments upon his
royal person, the results of some of which have been recorded.
The rule for finding the insensible perspiration during any given
time was as follows : — Weigh the body at the beginning and at the
end of (the time, taking care to add to the former weight whatever
may have been supplied to the body during the interval, and to add
whatever may have been given off from it to the latter weight. The
difference between the two weights so adjusted is the amount of the
insensible perspiration : and when the weight of the body undergoes
no change, the insensible perspiration is equal, as above stated, to
the difference between the ingesta and the sensible excretions.
Applying the above rule to the numbers in our own table, what
ought to be the amount of the insensible perspiration in twenty-four
hours. The solid and liquid ingesta amount to 96 oz., and the
sensible excretions to 50*5, and the difference between them is 45*5,
60 Philosophical Society of Glasgow.
■which ought to be the amount of the insensible perspiration. Why
then have I added 22 oz., and raised the amount of the insensible
perspiration to 67*5 oz. ? For the very sufficient reason that it is
now well known that we take into our bodies daily, not only 96 oz.
of solids and liquids, but also 22 oz. of oxygen gas; and that a pound
of oxygen tells upon the balance exactly in the same way as a pound
of water, or a pound of roast beef and potatoes. For this reason I
have been for many years in the habit of making my students
distinguish between what I named the "Sanctorian insensible
perspiration," estimated in the usual way, and the " true insensible
perspiration," estimated with the addition of oxygen.
It is clear that the sagacious old Venetian, who lived more than
150 years before oxygen gas was ever heard of, was in no way to
blame for the error in his estimates; nor any of the numerous ex-
perimenters who lived before the year 1780, when Lavoisier proved
that the process of respiration consists essentially in the absorption of
oxygen and the emission of carbonic acid. It is remarkable, how-
ever, that Lavoisier did not foresee the consequences of his own dis-
covery ; for in his numerous experiments on the insensible perspira-
tion he estimates it in the old way : and it is still more remarkable,
that Mr. Dalton, the celebrated author of the atomic theory, should
have done the same in three sets of experiments which he made on
himself, chiefly with the view of showing that the carbon contained
in the food he made use of was eliminated chiefly as carbonic acid
from his lungs.
Still no suspicion seems to have been entertained of the error
involved in the experiments of Sanctorius and his followers, arising
from the indirect method in which they estimated the insensible per-
spiration, without taking the absorbed oxygen into account. It was
first clearly shown, by the experiments made to determine what
part of the insensible discharge came from the skin and what from
the lungs, and the opposing results obtained, according as the one
or other of them was weighed directly, or estimated from the
weight of the body. In the beautiful experiments of Lavoisier and
Seguin, in which the discharge from the skin was directly weighed
and that from the lungs calculated ; they found that out of a total
amount of 18 grs. per minute of insensible perspiration, 11 came
from the skin, and only 7 from the lungs. But no sooner was che-
mical physiology sufficiently far advanced to admit of the discharge
from the lungs being directly weighed, than it was found that the
discharge from the lungs was much greater than that from the skin.
Taking the numbers from our table, out of 45*5 we have 39*7 coming
Dr. Andrew Buchanan on Physical Life. 61
from the lungs and only 5*8 from the skin. Now, clearly, the cause
of these discrepancies is, that in both estimates the absorbed
oxygen has been neglected ; and in the first set of experiments the
loss falls solely upon the lungs, while in the second set it falls solely
upon the skin. To rectify Lavoisier's figures, and restore to the
lungs their preponderance over the skin, it is only necessary to add
to 18, the discharge per minute, the oxygen absorbed per minute ;
which, in the person of M. Seguin, on whom the experiments were
made, calculating from his insensible perspiration, would be 8*645.
We have thus 18 + 8*645 = 26*645 for total discharge per minute; from
which deduct the discharge from the skin, which having been actually
weighed undergoes no change, and we have 26*645 -11 = 15*646
for discharge from lungs. We have thus very nearly the same
results as expressed in our table. Lungs to skin as 15*645 to 11,
according to Lavoisier's experiments; and as 39*7 to 28 according
to table.*
If I be asked, " Who is the author of this theory of life, and
where the best account of it is to be found 1 " I prefer answering
the second question first. The best account of it is to be found in
M. Comte's Positive Philosophy, Vol. III., under Biology. But why
should I recommend to you a book so distasteful to most people in
this country? I should certainly have felt the force of this remon-
strance had I been addressing mere students, but it does not apply
to the members of a Philosophical Society, who are not restricted to
milk and spoon-meat, but require a stronger diet. Besides, I have
a sympathy with M. Comte — that is, I had when he was living, and
I have a respect for his memory now that he is dead.
If you ask me from what my sympathy with M. Comte proceeds,
I reply, in the first place, that it is not because he was an atheist.
I hold him, indeed, not to have been dangerous in that way, because
he told distinctly what he was. Somewhere in his book he says,
" The heavens have been said to declare the glory of God ; no, they
declare only the glory of Sir Isaac Newton and Laplace." With a
man thus candid you are safe ; being forewarned you are forearmed.
The dangerous men are those who conceal or disguise their opinions.
If you ask them, Gentlemen, are you atheists 1 they reply in a bland
voice, " Oh, you must not call us by so hard a name ; we prefer to
be called anti-teleologists ;" and in so saying they assume an arch
* I see in Liebig's Animal Chemistry, p. 283, that Lavoisier's estimate of the
oxygen absorbed in 24 hoars is 15,661 grains, which gives per minute 10*87.
We have thus for the true insensible perspiration per minute 18 + 10*87 =» 28*87,
and for the discharge from lungs 28*87 - 1 1 = 17 '87.
62 Philosophical Society of Glasgow.
and sagacious look, which shows sufficiently to their friends and
admirers that they are good sound atheists at bottom, bat being
polite, gentlemanly men, they do not like to come to an open
rupture with some obstinate old friends of theirs, who will persist
in believing what their grandmothers taught them — that there is
a God, and that they have souls witliin their bodies, and that these
souls, through grace, may be saved. These are the old wives' fables,
three in number, which the anti-teleologists wish you to give to the
winds ; and when they mount your platforms and endeavour with
delusive arguments and sesquipedalian words to persuade yon to
embrace anti-teleology, you can be at no loss to understand what
they really mean.
Is it, then, M. Comte's philosophy that evokes my sympathy?
I believe one half of it, and I disbelieve the other. That in the
study of physics or chemistry we should admit only well ascertained
facts is nothing very new. Your late distinguished President, Dr.
Thomas Thomson, whom I had the advantage of having for a
teacher, and the happiness of having for so many years thereafter
as a colleague and a friend, always insisted on " matters of fact —
nothing but positive facts.'1 He professed, therefore, the same
philosophy as M. Comte, but he did not develop it systematically;
as every candid reader will acknowledge that M. Comte has so suc-
cessfully done in the beautiful sketches lie has drawn of the prin-
ciples and relations of the various branches of science, arranged in
what he terms their hierarchy, proceeding from the most general
to those more limited in their sphere— mathematics, mechanics,
physics, chemistry, and biology.
What I differ from M. Comte in, is his view of what constitutes
a fact, and leads him to ignore as such all the facts of consciousness,
which are to me the primary facts, without which I could have no
knowledge of any other. When an impression is made on any one
of my five senses, all that follows, so far as I am concerned, is a
change in the state of my consciousness ; and as such changes are
continually occurring, and are not spontaneous like my thoughts, I
infer that they proceed from causes external to my sphere of being ;
and thus by a process of reasoning I come to know and believe in
the existence of an external world. But that external world I only
see as it is reflected in the internal mirror of my mind. Break the
mirror and the images disappear ; make its surface no longer plane
but concave, convex, or irregular, and the images are magnified,
diminished, or distorted accordingly ; so that the whole external
world is to me nothing but what my mind represents it : and this is
Dk. Andrew Buchanan on Physical Life. 63
to me the primary fact, without which I can have no knowledge of
any other.
My sympathy for M. Comte was produced by reading the just
and generous tribute of admiration and gratitude which he pays to
the man to whom he owed the inspiration that prompted him in
writing his article on Biology — I mean M. de Blainville. It so
happened that, eight years before M. Comte, I attended a course
of lectures by the same great teacher on General Anatomy and
Physiology, and received from him an amount, and above all a kind
of information at that time quite unknown in this country, and
which, I believe, I could have received only from his lips. This
was a rare piece of good fortune to a man who, fifteen years there-
after, was called upon, altogether unexpectedly to him, and at two
months' notice, to lecture on physiology in our University, and who
found then that his notes of M. de Blainville's lessons placed him
abreast, or rather ahead of the current knowledge of the time. M.
de Blainville was besides an accomplished academic orator — for
every kind of oratory has its own sphere for which solely it
is fitted. Mr. Disraeli, so great in the senate, never could have
been educated into a professor: Mr. Gladstone might; bearing as he
does a great resemblance, both in manner and appearance, to M.
Guy-Lussac, who was at that time the leader in the school of
physics, as De Blainville was in that of biology. I never can
forget M. de Blainville's face, beaming with intelligence and good
humour, and with a versatility of expression truly French,
which no stiff Scotsman can ever aspire to. He was, besides, a
thorough master of the blackboard, and although rather stout, and
short in stature, it was rumoured that he could jump up to the top
of his blackboard and draw an animal in outline before he came down;
but certainly his sketches, grotesque as they were, were admirable
for the purposes of illustration. Altogether, I can declare truly,
that the highest intellectual enjoyment I ever had, in the whole
course of my life, was in going for six months, twice a week, to the
Sorbonne to hear M. de Blainville lecture.
To return to our subject — It cannot but be admitted that the view
of the vital actions which I have submitted to you does comprise a
very large proportion of the phenomena of life, and many eminent
men have held that life is nothing else than the aggregate
of these actions. I cannot, however, accede to that opinion. I
have already stated to you that whenever we understand the nature
of any physical process, whether simple or complicated, we neces-
sarily understand also both how it commences and how it terminates.
fa 4 Philosophical Society of Glasgow.
Now the theory of life under consideration gives no conception
whatsoever as to how life commences, and only very confused ideas
a* to how it terminates, and as to the marvellous process by which
it is perpetuated from one generation to another.
The above theory, however, corresponds exactly with the view
which has always been entertained vulgarly as to the nature of life.
It is always spoken of in common language as something imparted
to the body, which only becomes alive on receiving it. A man's life
is said to belong to him just like his property, to be the most
precious of his possessions. It has been described as a Divine gift
which has been conferred upon him, or a quickening spirit which
lias been breathed into his body — the body being regarded as
the substratum in which the quality of life subsists. Now this
mode of speaking belongs assuredly to that higher life which is here
expressly excluded from our consideration, but of which, it may be
remarked in passing, that the reality is strongly attested by the
universality of this mode of speaking, as proving an innate convic-
tion of its truth in the human mind in all ages and nations. Even
Mr. Darwin speaks of life as having been breathed into his prim-
eval organism. But for men of science in discussing the nature
of life to begin, as if they were writing an epic poem, not at tho
beginning, but in the middle of the process — to speak of it only after
the organism has come into existence, is surely a strange transgres-
sion of all the rules of logic. Every successive phase which the
organism assumes is the result of the change that has been effected
on the phase immediately preceding it, and thus we go back to the
embryo, or first rudiment of the organism. But we must still
demand an answer to the question, How was the embryo produced i
It is in vain to attempt to escape from the difficulty by saying that
the embryo was produced by the maternal organs, and that the
embryo of the mother was produced by the grandmother, and so
backward till we come to the first individual of the species. The
question remains, How was that individual produced, and whether
as an embryo or as an adult ? which carries us back to the con-
troversy which raged in the days of Harvey, whether God first
created the hen or the egg — Utrum Deus ovum aut GaUinam print
creaverit. Let me add, that, to my mind, nothing can be more clear
than that the first act of life is necessarily antecedent to, and
outside the organism, seeing that the organism is the resulting
product.
Dr. Huxley's notion is the same as Mr. Darwin's, only he
expresses it in different language. All protoplasm is generated
Dr. Andrew Buchanan on Physical Life. 65
by some pre-existing protoplasm, for there is not, he affirms, a
shadow of trustworthy evidence to show that it has ever been
produced in any other way during all the vast periods of geological
time in which the existence of life on the globe is recorded. He
stifles all inquiry into the physical origin of life by declaring that it
is enough that a single particle of living protoplasm should once
have appeared on the globe, as the result of no matter what agency y
and that no consistent evolutionist would ask for more, as it would
be sheer waste.
Another objection to this theory is derived from the laws of
chemistry. If life consists in a chemical action between the
organism and the ambient medium, it must come at once to an end,
according to the laws of chemistry, and could not be perpetuated.
Every chemical action between finite bodies, and even between one
finite body and another of which the quantity is practically inex-
haustible, comes to a close when the conflicting chemical affinities
have exhausted themselves, and stable chemical compounds have
been formed which repose quietly side by side with each other. Does
the same law hold with respect to bodies in the living state 1 Does
the mutual exchange of elements between the organism on the one
hand, and the ambient medium on the other, come necessarily to an
end 1 We are at first disposed to say that it does, seeing that death
or the cessation of life in the individual is the inevitable lot of all
living beings; and if we had only to consider the course of life in
those organisms that die, leaving no progeny behind them, there
would be in so far a complete correspondence between the actions
that constitute life and the ordinary actions of chemistry.
But the case we have supposed is the exception and not the rule.
In the great majority of cases, when the organism comes to maturity
it exhibits a phenomenon utterly irreconcilable with all known
laws regulating the duration of physical action in a finite body such
as a living organism. On coming to maturity it forms within
itself, and detaches from time to time from its substance, a certain
number of minute bodies exactly resembling in form and size the
germ or rudimentary form of the organism itself as it issued from
the parental body, and capable, like it, of entering into the same
series of actions with the ambient medium, and throwing off at
maturity products similarly endowed, thus rendering the course of
life, from one generation to another, one continuous chemical action,
to which no limit can be assigned so long as the constitution of the
ambient medium remains unchanged. Can any action between two
chemical re-agents, even if one of them be inexhaustible, be thus
Vol. XT.— No. 1. p
06 Philosophical Society of Glasgow.
prolonged f Every chemist will answer No, and will add emphati-
cally, that there can be no continuous chemical action without an
equally continuous supply of the elements between which the
action originated and the persistence of the physical conditions
necessary for that action.
There is still another argument, also derived from chemistry,
which is opposed to the preceding theory. When any two bodies
act chemically upon each other, the products of their action differ
from either of the original bodies, as in the case of a neutral salt
produced by the union of an acid and an alkali. No two such
chemical re-agents, whether simple or complex, after terminating
their whole series of changes, can leave one or more products behind
them identical with either of the original re-agents. On the con-
trary, it is one of the most striking characters of living organisms,
that they produce a progeny like themselves. Some produce only
one at a time — the herring produces every season from forty-five
to sixty thousand, the cod is till more prolific, while among plants
there is a like diversity in the number of seeds and spores.
To sum up the objections which have been stated to the current
theory of life : It gives no explanation of the origin of life, which
shows it to be an imperfect theory, seeing that every true explana-
tion of any process, whether in nature or in art, implies a know-
ledge of the mode in which the process commences. It gives no
explanation of the origin of species — that is to say, of the mode in
which life is renovated, and so perpetuated from one generation to
another, after a common type, determined by chemical laws,
before the existence of the first individual of the species. It con-
fines to the lifetime of the organism the whole actions which con-
stitute physical life; whereas certain vital actions — the most
important of all, as determining the type of the species — are
necessarily antecedent to the existence of every organism which
the species embraces. These organisms come into existence simul-
taneously or successively, and are each of them the seat of the
same actions, which must continue to be performed in the very same
way so long as the cosmical conditions from which life originates and
is perpetuated continue unchanged — that is, while the same chemical
elements are brought together under the same physical conditions.
Last of all, even with respect to those actions which are referrible
to a single organism, it produces confusion of thought to refer to a
common cause processes so dissimilar as the formative and the
oxidative processes, by the former of which organic matter is
prepared to build up the organism, while the latter consists in the
Dr. Andrew Buchanan on Physical Life. 67
action of the atmospheric oxygen, which serves to pull it down ;
this last being in reality the only true reaction between the organism
and the surrounding medium. Tt is in the strictest sense life
according to the type of De Blainville. It cannot exist till the
organism has been produced ; it goes on, if not interrupted, till
oxidation is completed, and exhibits its brightest endowments when
there is an exact balance of the assumpts and excretions.
II. Argument from Analysis. — Having thus discussed the only
theory of life which seems to me to require notice, I shall now endea-
vour to explain what I mean by physical life. I shall submit it for
your consideration, first, as seen by the light of analysis; second, as
viewed synthetically, or by the light of experiment; and last of
all, I shall arrange the facts ascertained by the preceding modes of
investigation in the form of an hypothesis, which may facilitate the
conception of their connections and mutual dependence.
Those who construct theories are just like other architects, who
require to pull down the old house before they lay the foundation
of the new. Supposing, then, the ground to be sufficiently cleared,
I proceed to explain of what materials, and according to what plan,
I intend to erect the new buildings. In doing this I shall endeavour
as much as possible to employ only established facts, confining, in
the first instance, all reasoning about them merely to determining
their sequence or the order of succession in which they may be
supposed to occur. To continue the same figure, which I find
useful in explaining my meaning, I shall show you the vast and
inexhaustible quarry from which I intend to hew ; how the founda-
tion stone is laid ; how all the other stones employed are exactly
of the same kind till the building is completed; how thereafter
other similar stones are still hewn out; but, the building being
complete, they are employed to build along side of it other houses
exactly similar, till a whole village, which at length attains the
dimensions of a city, is constructed. It is exactly in this way that
a whole species is formed, after the same plan, and out of the same
materials as the first individual that belonged to it, and exhibited
the type of the species.
1. It has been shown by ultimate chemical analysis that living
matter, by which I mean the material substance of bodies exhibit-
ing the phenomena of life, is made up of eighteen simple elements.
These are shown in Table I., divided into two classes, four cardinal
and fourteen complementary elements.
2. It has been shown by proximate analysis that there are various
kinds of living matter, but that those which are invariably met with
68 Philosophical Society of Glasgow.
in living organisms, and may therefore be regarded as the most essen-
tial to life, are combinations of the whole four cardinal elements
(C, H, O, N), with a relatively small quantity of one or more of the
complementary elements. As instances may be given hseniatin,
albumen, fibrin, and casein, all of which are mainly composed of the
four cardinal elements : the first containing a small quantity of iron
in addition; and the other three small, but different quantities of
sulphur and phosphorus. No organism can be developed or con-
tinue to live unless the ambient medium in which it exists presents
to it all the inorganic substances essential to its constitution ; no
diatom can be developed in a medium that does not contain silex
to form the beautiful siliceous skeletons by which they are distin-
guished ; no red-blooded animal can be formed without the presence
of iron ; nor a shellfish, a quadruped, or a man, without the pres-
ence of lime.
3. As the combinations of the four cardinal elements with the com-
plementary elements are altogether sui generis, there being no combi-
nations at all similar to be found in physical nature, it follows that
the combination of the cardinal with the complementary elements,
in whatever way effected, must be regarded as the primary and most
'essential action^of life, and that by which all living matter, or the
material substance of all living bodies, is produced.
4. Last of all, water enters largely into the constitution of every-
thing that lives.
5. The sources from which the cardinal and the complementary
elements are derived are distinct and widely apart, and both of
them inexhaustible ; as is also the supply of water with which they
are invariably combined. The cardinal elements are derived alto-
gether from the atmosphere; the complementary elements, again,
are derived from the superficial strata of the earth's surface ; and it
is through the medium of water that they are brought into contact
with each other.
6. Water as it exists in nature in the liquid form, at ordinary
temperatures, always contains atmospheric air diffused through it,
and it holds also in solution whatever soluble mineral substances
are contained in the soil from which it springs. It is in water,
therefore, and in no other position that we are acquainted with, that
.the cardinal and complementary elements of living matter meet
together to perform whatever chemical reaction they are susceptible
of towards each other. Water, therefore, as it springs from the
soil ; watery infusions of organic matter, that is, of matter that has
once been alive ; and moist earthy or organic substances, constitute
Dr. Andrew Buchanan on Physical Life. 69
the matrix in which living organisms are most likely to be pro-
duced.
You will most probably smile at my simplicity, when I say that
in the preceding six propositions I have described to you the essen-
tial part of my theory of physical life ; may I ask you not to dismiss
it summarily, but to listen patiently to a few words which I have to
say on behalf of it, to obviate misconception, and to make my mean-
ing more clearly understood.
Is not the attempt to explain the origin of life upon physical prin-
ciples an act of presumption? is it not even like the act of Prome-
theus in stealing fire from heaven, an act of impiety 1 I think, on
the contrary, that it is a legitimate subject for scientific investiga-
tion. A man may believe sincerely that " in the beginning God
created the heavens and the earth, and all that in them is," but he
may also believe sincerely that God upholds them by laws devised
with infinite wisdom, according to which He regulates all events
and phenomena that occur throughout the wide universe, and that
just as light alternates with darkness, motion with rest, and heat
with cold, so life and death replace each other in never-ending suc-
cession. Life, so far as we know its history, is far younger than
nature, and since it first appeared on our globe in an infant form
has been gradually showing itself under forms more perfect and
more highly, endowed. It is strictly, therefore, a natural pheno-
menon, and in our attempts to explain the natural laws by which
it is regulated, we are interdicted from all appeal to supernatural
agency.
I have endeavoured to avoid the defects inseparable from identify-
ing physical life with the life of the organism.
Living matter is always produced in the same way, by the com-
bination of the cardinal elements with mineral matter and with
water, of all of which the supply is inexhaustible.
The three physiological processes by which living matter is pre-
pared to initiate the organism, to develop the organism into its
perfect form, and to form fresh germs for the next generation, must
be regarded as mere varieties of a single action, since they all
depend on the same chemical combinations taking place. There is,
therefore, no longer any difficulty in comprehending how an organ-
ism can emit from its substance any number of germs exactly
similar to the germ which was the primordial form of the organism
itself.
The germ is produced by the convergence of the newly produced
living particles ; and the process of sexual union, so long deemed
70 Philosophical Society of Glasgow.
an inscrutable mystery, is just the compound form of the con-
vergent process ; two sets of germs, each of them produced by
the simpler process, converging to form the fertile seed or the
fecundated ovum.
It is also manifest that the primordial or initiative act of life in
every species of living beings is necessarily external to, and ante-
cedent to the existence of all the organisms which the species em-
braces. The type of the species is thus determined independently of
the individuals that are to exhibit it, and these coming into exist-
ence simultaneously or successively, and each being the seat of the
same actions, life must continue to be performed in the same way so
long as the cosmical conditions from which it originated continue
unchanged ; that is, while the same chemical elements are brought
together under the same physical conditions.
On those who uphold a theory of this kind it is incumbent to
show that all the actions and phenomena of life, apart from conscious-
ness, are explicable on physical principles. This presents no diffi-
culty with respect to the processes of oxidative life, for we know
the exact quantity of oxygen, both in the free and the combined
states, introduced into the body daily; and know also that the
whole of it, excepting what goes to form the sensible excretions,
comes out of the body in the form of carbonic acid and water; and,
further, physiologists are nearly unanimous in regarding those
oxidative processes as the source from which proceeds all physical
energy developed within the body.
Organisation again, as we name collectively the processes of
formative life, by which all living forms and structures are pro-
duced, is manifestly a modification of molecular attraction, which
determines the forms and structures of inanimate matter; and the
two stages of formative life described below, under the names of
exoplasmatous and endoplasniatous life (See diagram, p. 20), appear
to mo to be quite analogous to the two stages in the act of
crystallisation by which the primary and secondary forms of crystals
are produced.
When crystals are deposited, as they most frequently are, from a
mother liquid — that is, from a liquid solution — the particles of
inanimate matter are no sooner produced, than they converge
according to the laws of molecular attraction, and affect the primi-
tive crystalline forms by which, except in cases of isomorphism,
they are readily distinguished from each other. Silex becomes a
six-sided prism, common salt a cube, and carbonate of lime a
rhomboidal prism, while the silicates of iron and lime, with
Dr. Andrew Buchanan an Physical Life. 71
some other mineral elements, assume the form of the garnet
dodecahedron.
As crystallisation proceeds a new directive force comes into play,
derived from the primitive crystal already produced, which so far
interferes with the force of molecular attraction as to determine the
direction of the axis and mode of attachment of the new crystals
and the secondary forms which they assume. These secondary
forms are sometimes very numerous, as in the instance of the
carbonate of lime, which exhibits no less than 618 distinct varieties,
from all of which, by dextrous cleavage, a nucleus having the
primitive form of a rhomboidal prism can be extracted.
The same laws curiously modified and admirably adapted to the
purposes which Nature has in view, regulate the production of
living forms. The living particles are no sooner produced in the
plastic liquid from which they spring, than they converge according
to the laws of molecular attraction, and affect the primitive form
which all living particles assume — that of a germ; and the most
remarkable law which regulates this first stage of the crystalline
process we name organisation, is that all germs are isomorphous.
They all consist of a homogeneous membrane disposed in the form
of a sac, and containing in its interior a spongy mass of similar
constitution, the whole being pervaded by the plastic liquid from
which the living particles were derived. The membrane and the
included mass being made up either of cells or of reticular tissue,
are admirably adapted for absorbing the surrounding liquid, and
nutrition by intus-susception, without which no organism can exist,
is thus secured. Still further, the directive force of the structures
already produced comes now into play at every point within the
organism, and determines both position and form among the new
particles of living matter produced in the absorbed liquid, and so
establishes and keeps up the marvellous process we name develop-
ment, each successive phase of the expanding organism being
regulated by the directive power of the phase which immediately
preceded it.
Two remarkable instances of the directive power of the living
tissues in directing the act of organisation may be mentioned. The
eye of a newt after extirpation is reproduced in a perfect form,
provided the root of the optic nerve has been left uninjured, but
not otherwise. In like manner, the whole shaft of the tibia, or
great bone of the human leg, may be reproduced after having been
thrown off in the disease named necrosis, if the two ends of the bone
be left entire, but not otherwise.
-A. SFECIEB,
GROUP OF ORGANISMS HAVING A DOMIOI TTPE;
PHYSICAL PROCESS,
Which Preceded ahd Produced the Primordial Oroauism, or
First Fboobnitor of tub Species,
Dr. Andrew Buchanan on Physical Life. 73
A species consists of organisms sprung from the same physical
source. The type of the species is determined by the chemical
nature of the exoplasmatous action that produced the first organism
of the series, whence it is not improbable that the ashes or mineral
constituents of the organisms may be their most persistent specific
character. That their morphological characters vary almost inde-
finitely must be conceded to the expressed opinion of men of such
vast experience as Darwin, Sir Joseph Hooker, and Lamarck ; but
that does not interfere with their unity of chemical composition,
on which manifestly rests the physiological law, which renders all
sexual union beyond the limits of the species unproductive, or only
productive of a degenerate and abortive progeny. This law will be
regarded by some as a mere chemical result, but by many others it
will be regarded also as a wise provision of the great Author of
nature to preserve the unity of composition or purity of the species;
and thus render chemically impossible that system of universal
mongrelism among all living beings, which is hailed at the present
day by so many enthusiastic devotees as a desirable consummation.
Orane Vivum ex Aere might be an appropriate motto for a system
of life in which the four cardinal elements are the principal agents
in the formative process, and oxygen the prime mover in the
destructive process; but if mineral matter and water are to be
included, we approach very nearly to the old notion of living beings
being made up of the four elements, fire, air, earth, and water, for
the first cannot be denied to organisms that keep up their vital heat
by burning off carbon and hydrogen.
The page opposite gives a diagrammatic view of physical life,
which will render my meaning more distinct. The letters A, B, C,
denote air, water, and earth in their natural relative positions.
The figures 1, 2, and 3 denote the three phases of physical life : — 1,
is the exoplasmatous life, or life before the organism; 2 and 3 denote
the endoplasmatous and the oxidative phases, which together con-
stitute the life of the organism. The cardinal and complementary
elements meeting in water, they all combine to produce living par-
ticles, which converge to form germs ; and these may be cells, spores,
seeds, or ova, according to the chemical nature of the living particles.
When the germ is completed, it absorbs liquid to form endoplas-
matous particles, which diverge to give to the organism its perfect
form, and at the same time the oxidative or decomposing process
commences, which produces the sensible and insensible excretions.
In No. I. the life before the organism takes place in a mother-
liquid ; while in No. II. it takes place in the parental organs.
74 Philosophical Society of Glasgow.
III. Synthetical Argument. — The synthesis of living matter by a
physical process is a problem which it is difficult to view under a
purely scientific aspect without also looking at and being influenced
by the important issues that lie beyond it It will be regarded as
a mere chimera, the offspring of an extravagant imagination, by all
those who will not allow themselves to think that living matter can
be produced otherwise than in the old homely way, by the well
known physiological process of generation. It ought, on the con-
trary, to be regarded with signal favour by all those who ask only
for a single bit of protoplasm on which to stand, that they may
move the whole organic world ; but by a singular perversity of the
human intellect these are the very men most strenuously opposed to
it. Last of all, it will be looked upon more calmly by all those
who, like myself, belie vo that there are as many kinds of living
matter as there are of species animal and vegetable, and that it is
solely from their differing in chemical constitution that they differ
also in form and in endowments ; but even those who take this more
moderate view cannot but reflect seriously that if they once admit
that under the existing cosmical arrangements of nature a monad
or a bacterion can be produced, they have admitted a principle
which, operating under a different system of cosmical arrangements,
may also produce a palm or a beech tree, a quadruped or a man.
Is there, then, any evidence derived from observation to show
that life, even under its lowest forms, does really originate in some
such way as I have endeavoured to trace in the analytical part of
this memoir 1 I reply, as I fully believe, that it takes place every
day, and everywhere — in every pool and ditch by the roadside, in
swamps, lakes, and rivers, and in the wide ocean, where the remains
of organisms so produced are forming at the present day deposits of
chalk and other strata, just as they did in former ages, whenever
and wheresoever the physical conditions of existence upon this earth
admitted of the primordial chemical action which constitutes the
beginning of life. I thus show my colours as I take my side in
the great scientific controversy which has so long divided the
learned world, and now presents itself in this place for discussion.
The free processes of nature are difficult of investigation, and can
be best j udged of from their analogy to cases better understood. Now
such cases there are : and it must be admitted that physiologists on
both sides have shown good tact and generalship in selecting a more
fitting, because a more limited field on which to fight out a Voutrance
the great battle of homogenesis and heterogenesis, archebiosis, spon-
taneous and equivocal generation, or by whatever name it may be
Dr. Andrew Buchanan on Physical Life. 75
hereafter known in history or in song. Let me, like other poets,
enumerate the heroes upon each side. First come Schulze and
Schwann, who vied with each other in rescuing Life out of the
hands of metaphysicians, by whom it had been so long imprisoned
in darkness, and in bringing it out into the light of day by treating
it as a branch of experimental physics. Next come Pasteur and
Pouchet, the doughty champions who led the van on either side.
Next come my dear friends Lister and Bennett, whom, as I wished
both of them to win, I regretted to see enlisted under hostile
banners. Then come Bastian and Tyndal, who have known so
often
"The stern joy that warriors feel
In foemen worthy of their steel."
Nor must we forget Dougall and Carmichael, our own fellow towns-
men, and members of our Philosophical Society, who have done
good service in this cause. But we must not speak thus lightly of
these and other estimable physiologists who have given us the
advantage, as we enter upon this obscure subject, of possessing an
immense store of facts, collected with much care during the last
forty -six years by men not less eminent for dexterity in experimental
manipulation, than for sagacity in the interpretation of their experi-
ments; and whose very differences in results, when they did occur,
redounded to the public benefit, by leading on both sides to fresh
researches.
The synthesis of living matter is most easily observed in liquids
of artificial origin, or others of which the chemical composition and
physical conditions can be readily ascertained and altered at plea-
sure. "We are thus enabled to submit to experimental investigation
the processes of nature in engendering life. There are two classes
of such liquids; organic infusions, and saline solutions without
organic matter.
It has been well known ever since the microscope came to be used
as an instrument of research, that when an infusion of any organic
substance, animal or vegetable, is prepared and left for a few days
exposed to the atmospheric air, it is found swarming with living
creatures of the most various forms, and so numerous that they
have been regarded as constituting a kingdom of nature apart, with
distinct natural families and numerous genera comprehended under
them. Different infusions yield different kinds of animalcules, and
the same infusion yields different kinds according to differences of
temperature and other physical conditions. Each infusion also
7(> Philosophical Society of Glasgow.
at different times exhibits a diversity in the animalcules inhabiting
it, which assume gradually a higher organisation. Sometimes again,
instead of animalcules we find upon the surface of the liquid
mould and other vegetable organisms of the lowest classes.
The following are a few facts of the second class. It is weD
known that common drinking water left in a broad vessel, freely
exposed to the air, often exhibits a film upon its surface which is
found to consist of monads, amoebas, and other simple forms of
infusorial life. 2. Solutions in spring water of organic salts of
potash or soda, as acetates or tartrates, become mouldy on the surface
when exposed to the air. 3. A more precise fact is that mentioned
by Liebig in his Letters on Cliemistryj pp. 240, 241 : " In the salt-
pans of the salt works of Rodenberg, in the electorate of Hesse, a
slimy and transparent mass is formed, which covers the bottom to
the depth of from one to two inches, and is everywhere interspersed
with large air-bubbles, which ascend in great numbers through the
supernatant fluid, when the pellicles enclosing them are torn by
agitating the mass with a stick. Pfankuch upon investigation
found the air enclosed in these bubbles to be such pure oxygen that
a wood splinter, the flame of which has been just extinguished,
rekindles into a flame when immersed in it. This observation has
been confirmed by Wbhler. The microscopic investigation of the
mass at the bottom of the pans proved that it consisted of living
infusoria, chiefly of the species Navicula and Gallionella, such as
occur in the siliceous fossil strata of Franzensbad, and in the paper-
like formations of Friberg. After being washed and dried, the
mass, upon heating, evolved ammonia, and upon incineration left
white ashes, consisting of the siliceous skeletons of these animal-
cule, which preserved the original form of the animal so perfectly,
that they looked like the original deposit only deprived of
motion."
In these two kinds of liquids,* then, we have by our artificial
* The relations of these two classes of liquids are of great interest. Every
organic infusion is necessarily a saline solution ; both give living products when
air is freely admitted, and both remain barren when the air is excluded. It is
impossible, as appears to me, to avoid the conclusion, that as the law of initia-
tion must be one and the same in both cases, so the organic matter in solution
does not perform a primary part in forming the living products. But it cer-
tainly performs a secondary part of much importance; since Infusorians are
developed more rapidly, of a higher order, and in much greater numbers in organic
infusions than in mere saline solutions. This may arise from two causes : from
the mineral matter in solution being already in a tit state to form living products,
and from the cardinal elements of the organic matter entering into the new com*
Dr. Andrew Buchanan on Physical Life. 77
arrangements surprised, as it were, Nature in her workshop, and
had full leisure to contemplate her operations, and we have been
rewarded by seeing her produce those masterpieces of all her works,
— living beings, animal and vegetable. That they are such is un-
questionable. We recognise them by their morphological characters,
by growth, by generation, and by death, which are exhibited by all
of them, and by spontaneous movements, which are conceived to
belong to animals alone. These latter are in our liquids by far
the most numerous and diversified : but it is often the reverse where
nature operates unrestricted, as we see on the surface of every
stone wall and the bark of every tree.
But have we learned anything, or, rather, have our experi-
mentalists taught us anything of the process by which these master-
pieces were formed? I think, a great deal. It has been found that the
free access of atmospheric air to the liquid is indispensable to the
success of the process. Nature could only form living beings by
first forming living matter, and to form living matter she must have
combined together the four cardinal elements, with their complement
of mineral matter and with water. Now, in every instance the
only raw materials upon which nature operated were common
atmospheric air and an organic or a saline solution. Out of these
re-agents, therefore, brought together and maintained in apposition
at ordinary temperatures, nature forms the Infusorians, both animal
and vegetable.
The full import of these experiments can be shown more strik-
ingly thus : — Subject a limpid solution of lime or barytes to an
atmosphere of carbonic acid ; a film appears on the surface of the
solution, it becomes turbid, and at length minute particles make
their appearance in it, and are precipitated in the form of a white
powder. You infer that the carbonic acid has been absorbed by
the solution, and combining with the lime or barytes has formed
insoluble carbonates of those earths which have been precipitated ;
and your conclusion is justified by chemical analysis, which shows
that the white powder precipitated contains carbonic acid. Just
binations. In this way we readily understand how the successive races of
infusorians in every infusion are of a higher order than their predecessors, of
which the dead bodies have served, like manure, to enrich the infusion. In
the same way, from mere exposure to the air, a simple saline solution becomes
an organic infusion by dissolving the simple organisms first generated in it.
In this way I once saw a basin of pure water from the pipe, at that time supplied
from the Clyde at Dalmarnock, covered with a film swarming with Vorticellae,
which I never saw produced artificially on any other occasion.
78 Philosophical Society of Glasgow.
in the same way a perfectly limpid organic solution is exposed
to ordinary atmospheric air, a film forms on its surface, it becomes
turbid, and at length minute particles are seen moving in all direc-
tions through it. I infer that the four cardinal elements have been
absorbed, and combining with certain mineral substances contained
in the solution have formed the moving particles; and the con-
clusion is justified by chemical analysis, which shows the moving
particles to consist of the four cardinal elements united to mineral
matter.
Here, then, if so minded, I might cease from my labours, and
claim to have shown you practically how living matter is formed
out of the four cardinal and certain mineral elements, treated in a
certain way. If you object that I have given you no theory or
scientific explanation of the process, I reply, that chemists during
last century understood perfectly the process for making muriatic
acid, and were worse off than if they had possessed no theory, for
they had a theory that was erroneous. They fancied that they
decomposed muriate of soda, and set free muriatic acid; and it was
only after tho beginning of the present century that Davy proved
to them that they decomposed chloride of sodium and simultane-
ously an atom of water to form hydrochloric acid.
But I admit that it is highly desirable that we should under-
stand, as far as possible, the nature of this process, and we have
again to thank our experimentalists for showing us two steps
more that we can take with safety. Ordinary atmospheric
air is a vague expression. Out of the many substances con-
tained in the atmosphere can we not select those which are
essential to our synthetical process, and those which have no
share in it? We are enabled to do both. The gaseous elements
existing in the atmospherical air, as determined by analysis, take no
share in it. If we prepare nitrogen, oxygen, carbonic acid, and
ammonia, by the most approved chemical processes, and mix them
in due proportion to form an artificial atmosphere, the liquids
exposed to such an atmosphere, or to these gases singly or other-
wise combined, show no signs of life. There must, therefore, be
something present in ordinary atmospherical air, which does not exist
in our artificial atmosphere; and this the ingenious experiments of
Pasteur and other experimentalists have shown to consist of
numerous minute particles floating in the air, which, gravitating
downwards, fall into the organic infusions and saline solutions,
and so become the principal reagents in engendering life.
Regarding it therefore as a fact established by experiments
Dr. Andrew Buchanan on Physical Life. 79
worthy of full reliance, that common atmospherical air is loaded
with innumerable minute particles, which must be regarded as
playing a principal part in the formation of living matter in saline
solutions and organic infusions, the important question presents
itself for solution, " What is the nature of these minute particles ?"
To this question the whole learned world, with only a few dis-
senting voices, has replied, that the particles in question are germs
thrown off from the lowest organisms, animal and vegetable; and
that these germs, floating about everywhere in the air, fall into the
saline solutions and organic infusions, and there undergo develop-
ment according to the ordinary laws of generation.
To this view it may be objected, that it is very difficult to conceive
that there can be present in the atmosphere at all times and in every
place such a vast multitude of germs as would be required to pro-
duce the whole families of the infusorians, as well as the lowest
fungi, lichens, and mosses, which are believed to originate in the
same way ; and, further, that as to the supposed demonstration of
these germs, as visibly present in the air, by means of a vivid light
admitted through a small aperture into a dark room, it has been
well ascertained that the majority of the floating particles so descried
are debris from surrounding bodies, organic and inorganic. It
would certainly be rash to affirm that none of them are germs, but
it may be safely said that very few of them have been shown so to
be from their morphological characters. But a much more serious
objection to this doctrine remains to be stated, viz., that it is logi-
cally inadmissible except by those who recognise the supernatural
in science, that is, who appeal to supernatural agency as a fitting
explanation of scientific results. This objection requires to be
more fully stated.
The answer to the question, what is the origin of life in the
infusorians? is of an importance far beyond the subject by which
it is suggested, for no satisfactory answer can be given which does
not apply equally to other organisms ; and we are thus brought face
to face with the old and vexed question as to the origin of life, or
source from which have sprung all living creatures, animal and
vegetable, that exist upon the face of the earth, or of which the
remains lie entombed beneath it.
The view of the ancient Greek philosophers on this important
subject, although deficient in the basis of facts on which it rested,
was correct in its general outline. They held living beings to be
first produced by the concourse of atoms— that is, according to a
determinate physical law — and to be thereafter propagated by the
80 Philosophical Society of Glasgow.
physiological process of generation. But no sooner had the doc-
trines of Christianity gained a complete ascendancy over the minds
of men, than life, so far as it is a subject of scientific inquiry, came
with perfect consistency to be regarded as originating in generation
alone ; the first appearance of each species of plant or animal upon
earth being referred to an immediate act of the creative power of
the Deity. All men were agreed as to the wisdom and beneficence
of an arrangement which, in conferring life, substituted the deli-
berate act of an omniscient Being in place of the blind impulse of the
atoms of Lucretius. Meanwhile it escaped notice that a principle
before unknown had been introduced into science,* and the doctrines
of biology were adjusted to the supernatural standard: and during
eighteen centuries physiologists continued, with perfect consistency,
to believe in the doctrine that life, so far as it was a matter of
scientific inquiry, originated in generation alone; without any
apprehension of the confusion that must ensue, if the science of a
more enlightened age were to repudiate the fundamental principle
on which that doctrine rested. This was what actually happened
during the second and third decades of the present century, when
geology first asserted its place as a branch of general science, and
revealed the true history of life upon the earth.
The only difficulty experienced in the first instance seems to have
arisen from the great variety in the processes which constitute the
function of generation ; but a mode of speaking was adopted which
was in harmony, or at least not openly discordant with the views
of theologians. Generation was divided into three kinds : the
ordinary or normal, the equivocal, and the spontaneous or direct ;
and each of these doctrines was held to infer a certain moral char-
acter, or rather system of religious belief on the part of those who
professed it.
* The obscurity which hangs around this subject in the minds of many men
arises from their not having formed an accurate conception of the true place for
supernatural agency. It is clear from the definition of science as "an interpre-
tation of the laws of nature," that all consideration of deviations from natural
laws is excluded from it. The supernatural, therefore, can have no place in
science. It belongs altogether to the sphere of religious thought. It is not
only an essential part, but the very foundation of a religion communicated by
God to man ; and the principal historical facts recorded in the Old and New
Testaments can only be understood and believed in when they are regarded as
miraculous — that is, as supernatural. I here simply reproduce the opinions
which I had last summer the benefit of hearing expounded by an eminent
Scotch divine,* in an admirable series of discourses, which he delivered in his
own parish church, on the history of the prophet Jonah.
* The Reverend Dr. Monro of Campsie.
Dr. Andrew Buchanan on Physical Life. 81
Normal generation, having for its motto " Omne Vivum ex Oyo,"
was looked upon, and continues to be looked upon at the present day,
as the most orthodox doctrine, and the safest and most profitable
to profess; but it requires a man to refrain reverently from all
inquiry into the mysteries of the lower creation.
Equivocal generation again, characterised by the motto " Omne
Vivum e Vivo," was always held in suspicion as a doctrine savouring
more or less of heresy, and which there was, therefore, danger in
professing. It was easy for an enemy to represent a mode of
speaking so peculiar as a mere disguise for materialism and atheism.
In this way a man in former times, by holding this doctrine, might
easily have been brought to Smithfield or the Grassmarket. It is
true that in these modern times a man runs no risk of being burned
for his opinions ; but if he were a physician he might entertain a
very well founded apprehension of a fate as direful, that of being
starved, a crown of martyrdom which there are peculiar facilities in
awarding to the members of the Medical Faculty.
According to this doctrine living creatures were supposed to be
produced not merely by the normal processes of generation, but also
from the -decomposing particles of animals recently dead, or from
particles thrown off from the bodies of animals still alive. These *>
views, as affording a plausible solution of many difficult biological
problems, were popular among the ancients, with whose religious
tenets they did not interfere ; and they continued, in spite of religious
difficulties, to have many adherents up till the beginning of the seven-
teenth century. Till then the description given by the poets of the
process for repeopling a bee-hive from the body of a dead bullock, was
regarded not as a fable, but as a philosophical truth. Harvey and
Bedi showed the fallacy of these opinions with respect to animals so
high in the zoological scale as insects, but they retained them with
respect to organisms of the lowest class. I myself could at one
time see no other way of explaining the phenomena of infusorial life,
and the more so, that I had previously, from a deeper conviction,
embraced the same doctrine with respect to the entozoa, having been
made a convert to it by reading the ingenious, and for the time it
was written and the facts then known, thoroughly logical work of
Bremser on " Intestinal Worms." But science rests on facts much
more than upon arguments, and in the course of a few years a mul-
titude of new facts, added to both those departments of physiology,
put a final stop to all such speculations. The researches of
Kuchenmeister and Von Siebold threw a flood of light upon the
origin of the entozoa, and the same has been done for the infusoria,
Vol. XL— No. 1. o
82 Philosophical Society of Glasgow.
by the researches of Schulze and Schwann, continued down to the
present day by so many able experimenters.
The last of the three forms of the generative process bears the
name of spontaneous or direct generation, according to which living
beings are supposed to arise by the operation of chemical or other
physical laws. It is of this doctrine that I have spoken to you
favourably under the name of the physical initiation of life, and
which it is my object to commend to you this evening as the only
doctrine worthy to be received by a Philosophical Society. Never-
theless, I am bound to tell you also, that it has been from time
immemorial regarded in this, and in most other Christian countries,
as a doctrine so impious that no man of sound mind could possibly
believe in it ; or if, unfortunately, any one were tainted with such a
belief, that he would at least conceal it carefully for the credit of
human nature, and the sake of his own character, as well as from
a just apprehension of the universal indignation and execration of
mankind. No wonder, therefore, if this doctrine has had few
adherents. It might, indeed, have been supposed extinguished,
when suddenly it blazed forth as a demonstration in the pages of
Lamarck : who has clearly shown, to my mind at least, that the
■^ idea of the physical initiation of life, in whatever way explained,
is a logical necessity for the human mind, enabling it to bridge
its way over a chasm which otherwise shuts out all conception
of life and living nature. The name of Lamarck has ever since
been held in abhorrence, and his book proscribed in all ortho-
dox circles — a clear proof of the sway which theology still
wields in our biological schools. Here is Lamarck's book,
gentlemen, the first and only copy of it that ever was allowed
to enter the city of Glasgow. There is no copy of it in our Univer-
sity Library, nor in the library of the Faculty of Physicians and
Surgeons, and not even in the library of that enlightened body, the
Philosophical Society of Glasgow. It is, gentlemen, one of the best
books I ever read, and worthy of the name it bears, Philosophic
Zoologique, the work of a man of powerful mind, devoted to truth,
thoroughly self-reliant, and having the moral courage to carry out
his principles to their ultimate conclusions. I am far from adopt-
ing the whole of his very singular conclusions ; but it is due to his
memory for me to say, that so far from being chargeable with im-
piety, his book contains frequent references to the great Author of
nature— the fiTRE SUPREME, always spoken of in terms of
becoming reverence.
The opinions of the present race of physiologists on the two sub-
Dr. Andrew Buchanan on Physical Life. 83
jects of life and generation can only be understood aright when
read by the light of history, which distinctly shows both in what
way they originated, and how utterly incompatible they are with
each other. To those who believe in the Divine origin of life the
doctrine of normal generation — omne vivum ex ovo, is a logically
consistent doctrine, but it leads directly ad absurdum for all those
who have abjured the supernatural in science. They have knocked
the legs from their own theory, and still expect it to stand
upright. They conceive for themselves as to each species a vast
pile of organisms, each resting upon the one placed beneath it.
But upon what does the lowermost rest ? Upon a tortoise, is the
only fitting reply, thus placing the biologists of the present day on
the same level with the ingenuous Hindoo, who suggested the
same stable foundation for the terraqueous globe.
That men living at the seat of the Positive Philosophy will ever
return to the simple faith in the Divine origin of life which for
upwards of a thousand years sufficed to their forefathers is neither
to be expected nor desired ; but if they would rectify and reconcile
to each other their opinions as to life and generation, they must
go back to the philosophic teaching of Lamarck ; and if they cio
not, they must be content to hear it said, that the words of their
own great Satirist are as true to-day as on the day they were-
written —
" De tons les animaux qui marchent sur la terre,
Qui s'eleVent dans Fair, ou qui nagent dans la mer,
De Paris a Peru, de Peru jusqu'a Rome,
Le plus sot animal, selon moi, c'est l'homme."
On our own side of the channel, again, the unconscious influence'
exercised by traditionary ideas, even over vigorous and cultivated
minds, has been displayed not less conspicuously. Of this I need
offer no other proof than the fact, that in the first month of the
present year, 1878, one of the most advanced disciples of the posi-
tive school in this country, whom M. Comte himself would have
commended as being "d'une positivit^, la plus absolue" — that this
most positive of the Positivists should have published an elaborate
dissertation (admirable except in its conclusions), for the purpose of
giving the death-blow to the doctrine of spontaneous generation —
the physical initiation of life.
IV. Hypothetical Argument. — Thus far I am entitled to. say,
"hypotheses non Jingo" as I have hitherto stated only facts, and
their probable relations to each other. Now, however, I am to
84 Philosophical Society of Glasgow.
follow the example rather than obey the precept of our great English
philosopher, by assuming that the particles which have been demon-
strated by Pasteur and other experimentalists to exist in the air,
seeing that they are never absent from it, ought on that account to
be regarded as natural constituents of the atmosphere. To this
conclusion the facts ascertained by analysis and those of the syn-
thetical kind seem to me to point mutually. I have even persuaded
myself that we can make a pretty accurate guess as to the chemical
composition of the particles in question, and can demonstrate some
very important physical properties which they possess.
That these aerial particles are quaternary compounds of C, H, O,
and N, mast be regarded as certain, seeing that they combine with
mineral substances to form living matter, and that living matter
always contains the four cardinal elements in its composition. Still
further, it has been known ever since the time of M. Guy-Lussac,
who made the discovery, that the organic basis of all living matter
is the same. Albumen, fibrin, casein, and haematin all consist of
the four cardinal elements in the same proportions, united variously
with phosphorus, sulphur, and iron. It is this organic basis, dis-
covered by M. Guy-Lussac, which is now spoken of under the names
of protein, bioplasm, and protoplasm, and which is denoted in the
symbolical language of the present day by C^, H^, Ou, and N^
But while we are fully entitled to assume that our quaternary
compound does contain the elements just quoted, we cannot affirm
that it may not have contained other atoms of the same kind which
may have been eliminated in the course of an interaction so energetic
as that which must be required to separate such substances as
sulphur, phosphorus, and iron from the stable combinations in which
they existed in solution, and unite them in their simple form with
the four cardinal elements. It must, indeed, be assumed as the
basis of our hypothesis that the supposed quaternary compounds
contain the exact quantity of oxygen necessary to convert the whole
of their carbon into carbonic acid, and the whole of their hydrogen
into water; for in no other way can their existence in the atmos-
phere be reconciled with the well ascertained results of the ultimate
analysis of atmospheric air. Particles so complex in their constitu-
tion resemble the organic bodies formed by the processes of life,
and must resemble them also in their tendency to metamorphosis
under the influence of chemical and physical agents. It is quite
possible, therefore, that the ultimate analysis of atmospheric air may
differ from the proximate, and that if we do not adopt that view
we fall into an error of the very same kind as would be justly
Dr. Andrew Buchanan <m Physical Life. 85
imputed to any chemist who, in analysing a complex organic body,
were to mistake the saline compound at the bottom of his crucible
for the actual constituents of the body subjected to analysis.
If these views be correct, the composition of the quaternary par-
ticles supposed to exist as natural constituents of atmospheric air
comes to be C^, H^, O^ N„; and by reducing these numbers
to their simplest terms we have C8, Hj„ 0&, N, equivalent to
8(CO,), 6(OH,), N; that is, to eight atoms of carbonic acid, six atoms
of water, and one of nitrogen.
Do we know anything of the properties and mode of distribution
of these quaternary compounds ?
That they are transparent may, I think, be assumed, seeing that
they have never been seen, and that the other complex atoms exist-
ing in the atmosphere — those of water, of carbonic acid, and of
ammonia — are all of them transparent. That they are specifically
heavier than the air in which they float has been shown by many
most ingenious experiments; and that their mode of distribution is
regulated by their weight and by the action of currents of air
upon them, has been shown by the most diligent observations
carried on at all altitudes, from the tops of the Alps downwards. To
compare them to hailstones of the minutest size conceivable would
perhaps be no unfitting similitude.
Another property which these particles possess in an eminent
degree is adhesiveness to solid surfaces. In this respect they
resemble the particles of watery vapour in the atmosphere, which
every one knows to adhere so readily to the surfaces of solid bodies
and penetrate into porous bodies, rendering them damp and cold to
the touch. Now, the quaternary particles in the atmosphere have
exactly the same tendency. They adhere to the surfaces of solid
bodies, very notably to glass vessels, by the surfaces of which they
are held so tenaciously that every such vessel is unfit for any
trustworthy experiment on infusorial life that has not immediately
before being used been exposed to a high temperature. They pene-
trate also into the interior of porous bodies, such as hay and straw,
and cling to them with such tenacity as to have occasioned much
difficulty to experimentalists and misunderstandings among them.
On these facts M. Pasteur has founded some of his most beautiful
and convincing experiments. Finding that these aerial particles, or
germs, as he calls them, could nojb pass along bent capillary glass
tubes, or through the meshes of cotton wool, he prevented them by
these simple means from having access to his boiled organic solu-
tions, which remained perfectly limpid and without signs of life as
SO Philosophical SocUty of Glasgow.
long as he chose ; but on removing these barriers, and giving free
access to the atmospheric air, the solutions became turbid, and had
life developed in them. Nothing surely can be more manifest than
that certain particles present in the air were excluded from the
solutions in the first instance, and were afterwards admitted to them,
and produced living organisms.
Nor is it a matter of indifference, or a mere question as to a name,
whether we regard the particles in question as germs or as natural
constituents of the atmospheric air. If we regard them as germs we
lose the principal fruit to be reaped from the experiment ; for, since
all germs spring by the process of generation from a pre-existent
organism, we renounce all inquiry into the physical origin of life
and doom ourselves, in our speculations regarding it, to wander to
and fro in the old fashion, through a labyrinth from which there is
no escape, seeing that, like a circle, it has neither beginning, middle,
nor end. If, on the other hand, we regard these particles as natural
constituents of the atmospheric air, which, on being diffused through
water, combine with the mineral matter which the water holds in
solution, and so form an exoplasm which assumes the organic form
correspondent to its chemical constitution, we arrive synthetically —
that is, by the way of direct experiment — at the very same conclusion
which we had previously deduced from the analysis of living matter.
Chemistry could surely throw light on this subject by determining
the relative quantities of carbon and hydrogen in filtered and
common atmospheric air, collected at the same time ; as well as by
examining the air collected after being driven off by heat from the
filtering vessel.
It may be further urged in favour of this quaternary hypothesis,
that it give3 a more simple and probable explanation of certain
important physiological phenomena than that at present usually
assumed.
It is well known that oxygen gas is evolved during the produc-
tion of living matter in vegetables and in the infusoria. Now,
according to our hypothesis, whenever the quaternary particles
unite with mineral substances to form living matter, the oxygen
with which they are so richly supplied separates from them in whole
or in part. It is evolved outwardly in the case of vegetables and
the infusoria, while it is retained in their interior for the purposes
of oxidation by the higher animals. In this way the organic matter
of which every organism is formed is prepared by itself or by the
exoplasmic actions that preceded its existence, and hence the
abundance of such organic matter with which all Nature teems.
Discussion on Dr. Buchanan's Paper. 87
According to the views entertained by Liebig, again, all living
matter is prepared by vegetables, not only for themselves, but to be
transferred directly to herbivorous animals, and thence indirectly
to the carnivora. The supply of living matter is thus much more
limited, while the demand for it is not diminished.
Besides, there is no direct evidence in support of the funda-
mental proposition on which Liebig's theory rests — that all living
matter proceeds from carbonic acid, water, and ammonia, decom-
posed by the organs of vegetables, with the assistance of the light of
the sun ; and till such proof be produced it must be regarded as
improbable that the feeble organic affinities of vegetables could
accomplish such a result. Life terminates in the production of
these stable secondary compounds which mark the goal to which it
tends, and not the starting point from which it proceeds. Such
compounds are incapable of further change, because their affinities
are exhausted. They are like boulders which have fallen to the
lowest level, where they lie immovable. They constitute the damp
heavy air of the charnel house, fit emblems of death and eternal
repose. But they escape, according to the law of diffusion, into the
free atmosphere, where they are transformed in the great laboratory
of nature into complex particles, fraught with change, and therefore
full of hope and promise, and these descend in showers, like rain-
drops, to clothe the earth with verdure, and give fresh impulse to
animal life.
If it be argued that no substance can be recognised as existing
in nature till it has been actually seen and submitted to examina-
tion, I reply, that all chemists believe in the ammonium of
Berzelius, although it has never been seen; that the same is the case
with some of the radicals of the hydro-carbon bases ; and chief of
all, that astronomers believed in a hypothetical Neptune, and had
calculated his size, weight, and time of revolution, as well as the
exact part of the heavens in which he was to be found for many
years before the actual planet was discovered by the telescope.
Discussion on Dr. Buchanan's Paper.
Dr. Watson said he was not one of those who could exclude
the supernatural from science. He held science to be a reading of
the supernaturnl phenomena, and of the natural laws of the
88 Philosophical Society of Glasgow.
universe. These were all regulated in a supernatural way. They
could just as well tell the beginning of a crystal as of life, and the
one was just as supernatural as the other. Dr. Buchanan had
appealed to chemistry for the explanation of life and living matter,
but he held that no chemist had or ever would analyse living
matter, as, in the first place, laboratory processes necessarily killed
the living matter, and, in the second place, very much of what was
generally supposed to be living matter in the body was actually
dead— only the small masses of protoplasm scattered through the
body being really alive. In the strictest sense of the term, even
such structure of muscle, or at least the contractile portions of
muscle, were not living, and the secretions of the body also which
had been most carefully analysed by chemists were likewise dead.
All chemical experiments had been made on dead matter ; call it
organic substance, if they would, but still it was matter that was
truly dead. He thought that the author should have spoken much
more of the material in the body that was really alive, and which
had been denominated by modern physiologists bioplasm ; but on this
point he referred them to a paper read by himself before the Society
about two years ago, and which was printed in the Proceedings.
Regarding the origin of life, experimental evidence was very unsatis-
factory, as the journals one month contained experiments on one
Bide most carefully performed, and next month experiments on the
other side, performed with equal care and precision ; in fact, a man
to form an opinion from such evidence, must have faith in his own
experiments and in no other. He had himself performed but few
experiments, but he had watched with great interest experiments
performed by Lister and Dr. Carmichael, and they all seemed to
prove, as indeed Dr. Buchanan admitted, that atmospheric particles
were necessary for the production of life ; but the author had left
them in doubt as to whether, in his opinion, the particles were organic
particles or not. He firmly believed these particles to be organic,
and widely distributed through the atmosphere, although science
had not yet decided whether they were universally present or not.
As far as proof had yet been led, they had not got beyond the
dictum Omnia vita ex ovo.
Dr. W. B. Richardson, London, on invitation of the President,
said this was one of the parts of philosophical science he had never
particularly cultivated. He did not know that he had ever made
a single experiment bearing upon the subject that Dr. Buchanan
had been speaking upon. True, he had seen a great many experi-
Discussion on Dr. Buchanan's Paper. 89
meats in London, and in that way he might be able to hold the
balanoe as between the two sides ; but he must say he had never
seen anything on either side that had sufficiently accounted for the
phenomena observed. Now, Dr. Buchanan came forward with a
new theory, the substance of which was, that certain particles were
given np by the air to water, and meeting there with other atoms,
unite with them to form living particles. He confessed that when
this subject came before him he had difficulty in accepting it, but
there was also great difficulty connected with the theory of organic
particles in the air being considered the germs of the various
forms of life developed in exposed fluids. It was difficult to con-
ceive that everywhere throughout the atmosphere there existed
myriads of germs so specifically different among themselves as were
the forms of life developed in fluids wherever exposed to the ordi-
nary atmosphere. Neither could Dr. Buchanan's theoretical quater-
nary particles in the air be regarded as more satisfactory than the
older theory of aerial germs, as to account for the differing forms of
life produced. It would be necessary to suppose that these quaternary
compounds differed from one another widely in constitution, other-
wise it seemed to him that only one particular form of life could bo
developed by the action of these particles. Dr. Buchanan in his
reply might enlighten them as to how these quaternary compounds,
in his opinion, gave rise to the varying forms of life. At the present
time, there was no experimental proof of the existence in the
atmosphere of such quaternary molecules as Dr. Buchanan assumed
to be there present. Both the Chairman and Dr. Buchanan had
assumed that the development of life did not occur in the presence
of chemically pure oxygen, hydrogen, nitrogen, and carbon, such as
a chemist might prepare in his laboratory. But the experiment had
not yet been made that could convince him that in a vegetable
fluid under an atmosphere chemically pure the development of life
was impossible. He had not yet met with any 'account of experi-
ments proving beyond all possibility of doubt this assumption of
the author and of kthe President In concluding his remarks, Dr.
Richardson said he was quite willing to admit that he was yet
quite ignorant of the origin of life, and he sat down more bewildered
than ever.
Dr. Carmichael stated that in actions of living organisms they
were acquainted with no forces that were not physical. Dr.
Buchanan wanted them to go a step farther, and to regard the
origin of life also as depending on purely physical agencies acting
90 Philosophical Society of Glasgow,
on molecules which met in water, combining them into living
particles. But the question was — Was the living substance which
they knew to be constantly developed in water the result of mere
physical synthesis, or was it the descendant of pre-existing living
organisms 1 Experiment proved that in a fluid capable of develop-
ment which had been boiled, and protected from the ordinary
atmosphere, life was not developed, showing that in the process
of boiling something had been destroyed which previously existed
there, and which, but for the boiling, would have given rise to
living forms; but if to this boiled fluid a single drop of common
water were added, life would be produced in as great abundance
as if the fluid had not been boiled at all. Dr. Buchanan had
assumed that it was as easy to account for the formation of a
crystal of phosphite of lime as of a little bladder-like living cell,
but he held that the cases were in no way parallel. Dr. Richardson
had stated that it was not proved that under chemically pure air
or oxygen life could be developed in a fluid; but to his mind
Pasteur had settled this question beyond all doubt. In the water
spoken of by Dr. Buchanan there must exist innumerable mole-
cules, organic and inorganic, derived from the strata of the river bed.
Like the President, he also held that all life was directly descended
from pre-existing living matter.
Dr. M'Vail thought the paper a most important contribution
to the science of Biology. If he understood Dr. Buchanan's paper
aright, its object was to teach that in the air there were quaternary
particles, consisting of carbon, oxygen, hydrogen, and nitrogen,
which, when brought into contact with organic fluids or solutions,
gave rise to development of little living masses of protoplasm.
Dr. Buchanan did not seem in his paper anywhere to assume
that these quaternary particles were themselves organic. If Dr.
Buchanan intended to teach that these particles brought about by
a catalytic action the formation of living molecules, then he had
opened up a new aspect of the question altogether, and originated
a discussion that would soon extend far beyond the walls of this
Society. In inorganic chemistry instances of catalytic action are
frequent — certain substances bringing about the union of certain
other substances in their neighbourhood without themselves under-
going any change. In the living body also catalytic action was of
constant occurrence. In the alimentary canal ordinary non-dialy sable
proteids were by the action of certain " ferments " converted into
dialysable "peptones," and the ferments themselves underwent
Discussion an Dr. Buchanan's Paper. 91
no change whatever, but could go on converting fresh portions
of ordinary proteids into peptones. It was therefore quite an
admissible view of the question to take, to suppose that certain
particles in the air might have such a catalytic action on organic
fluids, the particles themselves not necessarily organic. Dr. Tyndall
had shown that the ordinary air was filled with ultra-microscopic
particles which, however, were rendered apparent by a beam of
light; he had further shown that the heat of a spirit lamp caused
their disappearance. But it could not therefore be assumed that
they were organic, as the heat of a spirit flame would volatilise
almost any particles of such extreme minuteness, whether organic
or not. It seemed to him, Dr. M'Vail, that the advocates of spon-
taneous generation were continually achieving little bits of success,
that they were continually gaining ground. Not long ago it was held
to be a fact beyond dispute, that after exposure to a temperature
of 100° C, and immediate hermetical sealing thereafter, there could
be no development of life. But Bastian had shown, and Dr. Burdon
Sanderson even had admitted he had successfully shown, that even
under such circumstances life might be developed without any
further communication with the external air. True, Dr. Burdon
Sanderson had subsequently shown that after a tomperature of
110° C. there would be no development of life; but then possibly
this also might be found to be incorrect, and at any rate Dr.
Bastian had pushed his opponents at least one little step back.
Again, chemists had of late years made from inorganic materials
many very complex substances, formerly deemed producible only
by living organisms. As Dr. Odling expressed it, the oleaginous
substances were quite, and the saccharine almost within the grasp
of synthetic chemistry. And since Dr. Odling's lectures had been
delivered, the very complex substance neurine had been made from
inorganic materials. He concluded by saying that Dr. Buchanan's
paper was a most suggestive and substantial contribution to the
subject.
Dr. Stirton said he had listened with great pleasure to Dr.
Buchanan's chemical exposition of physical life, and while he agreed
with him in several aspects of his theory, he must diverge in one
particular direction from him. His researches had hitherto been
confined to lower vegetable organisms, and more especially of late
he had been viewing the cycle of changes that took place in some
of the lower Algae, such as Protococcus pluvialis, and on one occasion
he had succeeded, by means of the spectroscope adapted to the
92 Philosophical Society of Glasgow.
microscope, in obtaining variations in the spectro lines daring a
complete act of generation or fission. He found that at the first
start of this act of generation two tolerably -well defined lines in
the spectrum diverged. As the act of generation went on another
fainter third line appeared; and what might be termed the maxi-
mum, just before fission was completed these same lines began to
converge again. This phenomenon, in his opinion, indicated a
complete cycle, not only of vital changes but chemical changes.
No chemical theory of life would account for as complete a cycle of
changes, changes reverting to their original condition.
Dr. Renfrew was of opinion that all matter, organic and inorganic
alike, was composed of molecules each having its own specific impress,
and all of which were acted on by forces, such as electricity, heat,
and light, and by a controlling power were grouped as crystals,
organic cells, or other forms. He held bioplasm to be an aggrega-
tion of molecules, individually and collectively controlled by forces
acting on them, the actions of these forces themselves, so far as tho
molecules were concerned, being modified by the original impress
given to each.
Mr. V. P. Buchan congratulated Dr. Buchanan on the bold
and manly way in which he stood forth to advocate truth, however
unpopular or unpalatable to the majority of people this truth
might be.
Dr. Buchanan, in reply, stated that his paper was the result of
forty years' consideration of the subject. If he lived a few years
longer he could not tell whether his opinion might remain as it was,
or would change. He thanked the Society for the attentive manner
in which they had listened to his paper.
Mr. Jas. B. Napier on an Unsound Wine. 93
X. — On the Chemical and Microscopical Analysis of an Unsound
Wine. By Mr. Jas. B. Napier, F.B.S., and Professor
J. G. M'Kendrick, M.D.
[Read before the Society, January 23, 1878.]
Mr. Jas. B. Napier gave an account of a purchase of wine he
had made from a maker in Taormina, Sicily. According to the
winemaker/s statement "it was a very fine and pure natural
white wine, called Alcantara, perfectly pure, of exquisite flavour and
perfume, and moderately dry. It had been heated, and all ferment
perfectly destroyed, and the price for a quarter cask of about 23
gallons, free on board at Messina, would be £7, 10s." The Custom
House duty on arrival in Glasgow having been charged at 2s. 6d.
per gallon, instead of at the shilling duty of natural wine, led
him to suspect that it was a fortified wine which had been sent
to him, and not the natural wine ordered. He stated that the two
analyses submitted, the one by Dr. Edward J. Mills, Glasgow,
and the other by Dr. August Dupre, London, agreed in showing
that the wine was neither pure nor natural — that at least from
6 to 8 per cent of proof spirit had been added. Dr. Mills says
that there is a considerable amount of acetic ether present, and
Dr. Dupre*, that the excessive amount of acetic ether proves the
wine to be unsound, and in a condition in which it certainly ought
not to have been sold. A remark of Pasteur's in his " Etudes
sur le Vin" as to the parasites in unsound wine, led to Mr. Napier's
getting a microscopical analysis of the wine from Dr. M'Kendrick
of the Glasgow University. This showed that there were abund-
ance of the Mycoderma aceti and the Mycoderma vini, as figured by
Pasteur, present.
Report on Alcantara Wine, by Dr. J. Mills, F.R.S., Professor of
Technical Chemistry in Anderson's College, Glasgow.
I have examined the sample of wine which you handed me on
May 24. The results are, —
94 Philosophical Society of Glasgow.
Alcantara Wine.
Specific gravity at 17°.7 C. 0*9990
Alcohol per cent, by weight, 15*0 \
[Equal to "proof spirit," 32'5]>
Total acids, reckoned as tartaric, per cent, . . 0*67
Sulphuric acid (So4) per cent., "06
[Equivalent to Piaster of Paris, *08
or Tartaric acid lost, *09]
The acidity is much above the average, as far as I can find, for
Sicilian wines: probably but little of it is owing, in fact, to
tartaric acid, but to acetic acid. There is a considerable amount
of acetic ether present, and the wine has in general a harsh,
acetic character.
Although not a heavily plastered wine, the Alcantara contains
an amount of plaster of Paris in solution that is not natural, but
the effect of an addition during manufacture. In this respect
it resembles most sherries. It also contains at least 3 per cant,
of added spirits (absolute alcohol).
The wine has the general character of an inferior sherry, not
"natural" either in respect of its plaster or added spirit. It would
probably yield unpleasant results in bottling.
! EDWARD J. MILLS.
Report on a Sample of Wine received from Mr. Jos. B. Napier,
July 11, 1877, by Dr August Dupre, F.R.S.
The wine was contained in an ordinary wine bottle, corked but
not sealed. The bottle had two labels, one with "Alcantara,"
the other with " From Jas. R. Napier, 22 Blythswood Square,
Glasgow. August Dupre, Esq., Westminster Hospital," written on.
On analysis the wine yielded the following result : —
Specific gravity of wine,
Alcoholic strength in per cent, proof spirit,
Total free acid, calculated as tartaric acid,
Free fixed acid calculated as tartaric acid,
Free volatile acid calculated as acetic acid
Real tartaric acid
Total dry residue, . . .
Consisting of \ mineral matters f1*1*
( organic matters, .
999 3
33*3 per cent.
057 „
019
0-30
000
5 02
0-55)
4-47$
019
99
n
if
The ash contained alkaline carbonates,
The rest consisting chiefly of sulphate, phosphate, and chloride of potassium,
calcium, and sodium.
Mr. Jas. R. Napier on an Unsound Wine. 95
The above analysis proves that the wine has been fortified by
the addition of spirit, at least from 6 to 8, if not more per. cent,
of proof spirit having been added. No natural European wine
the purity of which is beyond doubt, has ever yet been found to
contain anything like the above proportion of spirit, and 26 to 27
per cent, proof spirit must be taken as representing the strongest
natural European wines. The wine next contains an excessive
proportion of acetic acid, showing it to have been badly kept, and
having in consequence turned sour in some degree. The pro-
portion of alkaline carbonates in the ash is remarkably high, and
this, coupled with the extremely low percentage of free fixed
acid, leads me to the belief that the excessive acidity of the
wine has been in part neutralised by the addition of an alkali.
Lastly, the proportion of sulphate present is also rather high,
indicating that in all probability the wine, or rather the must,
has been slightly plastered. The total absence of tartaric acid
points to the same conclusion.
As regards the addition of spirit and the slight plastering, they
are, in wines of this class, such common, not to say universal
practices, that they cannot well be made matters of complaint
unless this particular sample was specially declared to be free from
such admixture. The excessive proportion of acetic acid is, however,
a very different matter, it proves the wine to be unsound and in
a condition in which it certainly ought not to have been sold.
My conclusions are thus shortly the following : —
1st, That the wine has undoubtedly been fortified.
2nd, That it is unsound.
3rd, That in all probability it has been slightly plastered, and
treated with an alkali to reduce excessive acidity.
Dr. A. DTJPR&
Westminster Hospital, London,
July 16, 1877.
Microscopical Analysis of Wine, by Dr. M'Kendrick, University of
Glasgow, November 6, 1877.
I have examined with the microscope (magnifying power 800
diameters) the Alcantara wine, and I find in it abundance of Myco-
derma aceti and Mycoderma vini, as figured by Pasteur in Figs.
1, 3, and 4 of his work "Etudes sur le Vin," which I send along
with this note. When the wine is poured into a glass, a scum or
pellicle gathers on the surface of it, and it is in this scum that
06 Philosophical Society of Glasgow.
the organisms are chiefly found, but they also exist more or less
throughout the fluid. From their appearance, and from the
masses of debris lying about in the field of the microscope, I
think the organisms are dead, and that they have probably been
destroyed by excess of alcohol or of acetic add or ether in the
wine. I mention this because it is well known that when the
alkalinity of decomposing urine reaches a certain point, all the
organisms which at first initiated the alkaline fermentation are
killed, and I suppose a similar occurrence has taken place in this
wine. In its present condition the wine is undoubtedly niwmiml
and unfit for use.
JOHN G. M'KENDRICK.
After a short account of the views of Pasteur regarding the
causes of unsoundness of wine, Dr. M'Kendrick explained that
he had examined two samples of the wine submitted to him by
Mr. Napier, with the result of finding, (1.) numerous specimens
of the fungus figured by Pasteur as Afycoderma aceti, the cause of
acidity in wine ; (2.) specimens of My coder ma vini, always found
in greater or less abundance even in perfectly sound wines ; and
(3.) a few isolated cells, about the ^Vtf of an inch in diameter,
nucleated, and closely resembling the common yeast cell, Fonda
cererisice. He had no doubt of the unsound character of the wine ;
and he pointed out that, by the use of the microscope, those inter-
ested in wines might discover the presence of microscopic organisms
even before the evidence of unsoundness could be ascertained by
the senses of taste and smell. If these microscopic organisms
became abundant, the wine quickly became so unsound as to be
detected by the unaided senses ; and when this stage had been
reached, it was impossible to do anything to remedy the evil.
It would be a matter of great importance to ascertain by the
microscope the presence of the fungi while they were still com-
paratively few in number, as at that stage they might be destroyed
by the use of one or other of the processes mentioned by Pasteur
in his work, " Etudes sur le Yin."
Discussion on Paper by Mb. Napier and Dr. M'Kendrick.
The President then proposed a vote of thanks to Mr. Napier
and Dr. M'Kendrick, and invited discussion upon the paper.
Discussion on Mr. Napier's Paper. 97
Dr. Wm. Wallace expressed an opinion that the wine which had
been the subject of the paper had been fortified after becoming
unsound, in order to give it so far the properties of a dry sherry,
which was characterised by the presence of very small quantities
of sugar and a moderate amount of acetic acid. He pronounced
the wine under discussion as quite unfit for use, in consequence
of the large quantity of acetic acid contained in it. Referring to
the process of " plastering, " which this wine had evidently under-
gone to some extent, he said that the " plastering " of wine seemed
to be almost universal in Spain, and he deprecated it as rendering
wine unwholesome. He observed that beer and porter were
called "hard" when they contained even less than one-half of
the acetic acid in the wine before him.
In answer to a question by the President, Dr. Wallace said
that he had repeatedly advised wine importers to introduce into
this country wines, natural wines, which had neither boon " plas-
tered " nor " fortified."
The President referred to the use of carbonate of lime in
Italy for the curing of the acidity of wine, and Dr. Wallace
explained Liebig's method of doing the same by the addition of
the neutral tartrate of potash.
Mr. Napier stated that the process used by Pasteur for pre-
serving natural wine in corked bottles was simply to raise its
temperature for a few minutes to about 140° F. This was safely and
efficiently performed by placing the bottles in a bath of cold water
and heating that, the depth of water being such as to be above
the level of the wine. On the large scale the wine was heated to
the necessary temperature in specially constructed apparatus
before being corked, and sometimes it was heated in the casks
themselves. Pasteur had proved by many experiments that at the
temperature of 140° F., and even at a considerably lower tempera-
ture, the vitality of all the parasites which he had found in
wines of all descriptions was destroyed, and that the wines so
treated were preserved, and had more of the delicate flavour or
bouquet of matured sound wine than was found in wine fortified
with alcohol.
The process of preserving wine on the large scale being so
very cheap, Mr. Napier saw no reason why sound and durable
natural wine — wine without any spirit having been added to it —
should not be procurable in any British wine-shop or public-house
Vol. XL— No. 1. h
98 Philosophical Society of Glasgow.
for eightpence or ninepence per bottle, or even for less. He had
bought wine last year outside the gates of Messina, for which he
had paid at the rate of twopence per bottle.
In explanation of the discrepancy between Dr. Mills and Dr.
Dupr6's statement of the amount of proof spirit in the wine the
following note from Dr. Dupr6, and which had been mislaid during*
the meeting, is appended : —
Dr. DuPRfe to Jas. R Napier, Esq.
Westminster Hospital, July 28, 1878.
"Dear Sir, — The discrepancy in alcoholic strength between the
reports of Dr. Mills and myself is really very small, and quite
within a reasonable limit of error; even one experimenter estimating
the strength of the same wine twice over will often find as great
a difference between his first and second estimation. However,
in the wine under consideration another explanation is also
possible. The sample which Dr. Mills had had a higher specific
gravity than mine; the difference is in reality greater than that
shown by the figures, because Dr. Mills seems to have taken the
specific gravity at 17*5, whereas mine was taken at 15*5. This
would add about -0003 to Dr. Mills1 figure, and make it 999*9
against mine, 999*3; and this is just about the difference which
would be caused by the difference in alcoholic strength, as given
by Dr. Mills and myself respectively. Besides this, Dr. Mills gives
the total acid as 0*67; I found 0*57. Now this is very much beyond
an experimental error, and shows, I think, that the sample
examined by Dr. Mills contained more acetic acid than the one I
had. This of course would have been caused by the oxidation of
alcohol; and Dr. Mills would naturally find less alcohol than I
found, some alcohol having been changed into acetic acid. This
is by no means extraordinary; the bottle may not have been corked
quite as well, or may have remained open, or stood upright a
longer time, <fea There are many causes which might induce a
greater production of acetic acid in one bottle as compared to
another, when once the action has begun. I am of opinion, there-
fore, firstly, that the actual difference is unimportant, and may either
be due to a small error on the one side or the other (I believe mine
is very close to the truth, for it is the mean of two experiments) ;
or, what seems on the whole more probable, the sample which
Dr. Mills examined has suffered more, was furthur gone on the
stage of becoming vinegar, than the sample I had. — Yours truly,
"A. DUPRfc."
Dr. Jas. Stirton on Licliens gi-owing on Living leaves. 90
XI. — Licliens growing on Living Leaves from the Amazons.
By Dr. James Stirton.
[Read before the Society, February 20, 1878.]
The following are descriptions of lichens received from Professor
Trail of Aberdeen, who gathered them in 1874 on the banks of
the Amazon and its tributaries, during an expedition sent out
for the purpose, inter alia, of investigating the flora of that
interesting part of the earth's surface. The present paper is
supplementary to another published in the Proceedings of the
PhUosopliical Society of Glasgow, containing descriptions of those
secured in the same localities by the same botanist from the
bark of trees.
The specimens from which the diagnoses were taken are, in
many instances, veiy small, and in one case, the whole specimen,
containing only one apothecium, was destroyed.
The subject of lichens growing on living leaves has hitherto
been only very partially investigated. Passing notices by the
earlier lichenologists, as Fee, Montagne, <fcc, have from time to
time appeared; but as their descriptions are quite inadequate
for determination, unless in one or two characteristic instances,
it is possible I may have trenched to a slight extent on their
ground, more especially as I do not possess any of their types.
Montagne was more devoted to mycology, and his descriptions in
this section are more reliable ; but the microscope of his day was
a very imperfect instrument, at least in the earlier part of his
career as a botanist. Nylander has supplemented several of
Montagne's descriptions, and added several new species, while
Leighton has recorded and described two or three new species from
Ceylon, <kc.
During these investigations there were detected on the same
leaves several minute fungi imbedded in lichen thalli, i.e., in
thalli abundantly supplied with gonidia, and, what is somewhat
extraordinary, presenting external appearances which at first sight
closely allied them to several lichen genera. According to modern
ideas of classification, their internal organisation is such as to
100 Philosophical Society of Glasgow.
preclude their ranking as lichens. "Without possessing any precise
knowledge of this section of mycology, I have ventured to insert
here, by way of addendum, descriptions of the more curious and
interesting of these; and the reason I havo done so, is owing solely
to the fact that none approaching to them in characteristics have
hitherto come under my observation, besides, the specimens are,
with one exception, indivisible. The attention of mycologists will
accordingly be directed to them.
Lastly, I havo appended descriptions of several lichens gathered
by Mr. J. King in the neighbourhood of the mining district of
Upper Chili.
Considerable difficulty has been experienced in the classification
of one group of these leaf lichens, viz., those having thin flat
scale-like apothecia. The majority have, without hesitation, been
referred to the rather indefinite genus Arthonia, as the characters
correspond sufficiently, while the external habit in all is very
similar. In one instance the presence of paraphyses pretty distinctly
defined, and of murali-locular spores in tlieca? with thin walls, pre-
sented an obstacle to classification with the Arthonia;, accordingly it
has been relegated to the Lecidcac. A second, having indistinct but
perceptible paraphyses and fusiform spores, contained in oblong
thecae, also with thin walls, i.e., not arthonioid, has been referred
to another indefinite genus, viz., Platygrapha. All this is unsatis-
factory, and even perplexing to tho student. Externally, as lias
been said, the members of this group of lichens present appearances
with or without the aid of a Codington lens, which, prima facie,
warrant close affinities, and yet their internal organisation differs
widely in the instances indicated. As these differences, although
minute, arc characteristic, there is no alternative, according to
modern classification, but to take account of them and act accord-
ingly. It is very questionable, however, how far such artificial
groupings are in tho interests of natural science. Classifications
based chiefly on anatomical distinctions are the order of the day,
and so far justly, inasmuch as the microscope has done much for
the study of natural science which would otherwise be inex-
plicable. While admitting the truth of all this, we must not
altogether lose sight of other considerations, viz., those based on
external manifestations. All the lichens indicated have external
appearances so closely allied as to render it difficult or even
impossible to discriminate between them. Granting, then, that these
external characters correspond to others microscopical, whereby
the whole could be referred to one genus, so far well; but when
Dr. Jas. Stirton on Licluns growing yil Living Leaves. 101
the microscope reveals characters such as to oblige^ the investigator
to refer the different specimens to distinct and e^b. -distant genera,
the question arises, -whether we are to sacrifice these -external and
obvious characters for the sake of others to whose- detection the
aid of the microscope is necessary ? Had these minute* 'characters
been unmistakable and constant throughout a series of specimens,
we should be obliged to succumb to their importance ; but. -when
they, too, admit of almost indefinite gradations that shade *©f£.-gn
either side of what may be considered as the type, their significajdfre .
is lessened, and in proportion to such variation. Such is true "
in the present instance. In the genus Lecidea, which trends in//"
more places than one on the genus Arthonia, we have at times *.-]-/
thecse with thick pellucid walls, i.e., arthonioid, and paraphyses * .
which scarcely deserve the name, while the innate apothecia,
with somewhat irregular outline, betray affinities and analogies
in another direction with the same genus. Nay, we have Arthonise
with sessile and round apothecia, as in Lecidea. Arguments of a
similar character are not awanting in other genera. The question
then reduces itself to this, seeing that both microscopical and
obvious characters vary almost indefinitely, whether is it pre-
ferable to hold to microscopical characters as a basis of classification,
to the almost entire exclusion of the more obvious and palpable,
or [vice versa, or, what in our opinion is better, to take, in tho
first instance, those larger and more obvious characters as the
main basis of classification, and subdivide by means of the micro-
scope? It is true that in lichens, as in other departments of natural
history, a certain proportion will not find a proper place, t.c, there
will be certain anomalies here as elsewhere. But seeing this is
true whatever classification is adopted, inasmuch as Nature's oper-
ations will not be hemmed and cramped under any particular
order, let us have recourse to that classification which, while it
proceeds from the obvious to tho unseen, will best assist the student
in liis researches. We ought to sacrifice a great deal to this aim.
As it is, the subject of lichcnology is, to the student, beset with
such difficulties and perplexities, that it is only the few who have
either the leisure or perseverance to advauce to an intimate know-
ledge of the science.
Thelotrema conspersum, sp. no v.
Thallus pallida vircscens, tenuis membranaceus; apothecia pallida
verruciformia, laevigata firma sessilia parva (latit. vix #2 mm.),
^pithecio poriformi rotundo firmo (latit. -04- -05 mm.); spore 8n®
102 Philosophical Society of Glasgow.
ina>loresobovat®\*l.~septat®, medio nonnihil constrict®, '009 - *012
x *003 - '0035* T&U& ; paraphyses graciles irregulares, non bene dis-
tinct®, in gelatina firma involut®. Iodo gel. hyni. non tincta nisi
lutescens. .*•/•••
•• • *
Supra'frpkiles Asplenii serrati (L.)
There* are occasionally seen traces of an inner perithecium, while
the Vkole internal organisation is much more that of Thelotrema
tfran.of Yerrucaria.
•V/v&ecidea leucoblephara (Nyl.)
v • . . * Supra folia Bactridis campestris.
The characters as described by Nylander tally sufficiently well
*• with those of this lichen, although there are minor differences.
Lecidea redepta, sp. nov.
Thallus sordide virescens tenuis ; apothecia sessilia, fusca vel
fusco-nigra parva (latit. circ. *2 mm.) plana, margine non prominulo
pall id e fuscoscente cincta ; spor® (6 - 8)n® incolores obtuse fusi-
formes, 3 - septat® interdum 1 - septat®, -009 - *012 x -003 - -0035
mm. ; paraphyses pare® graciles conglutinat® apicibus incoloribus ;
hypothecium obscuratum vel vix coloratura. Iodo gel. hym. coeru-
lescens dein sordide violacca.
Supra folia B. campestru.
This lichen is undoubtedly closely allied to L. leucoblephara, per-
haps too much so, but the differences indicated above are constant.
Lecidea ccelopa, sp. nov.
Thallus pallide virescens tenuis; apothecia pallida vel pallide
fuscescentia sessilia concava parva (latit. circ. '2 mm.), in receptaculo
cupulari obscuriore recepta ; spone (4-6 - 8?)n® incolores oblong®
murali-divis®, '03 - -045 x -01 - 013 mm. ; paraphyses mollius-
cul® graciles confertissim® non bene discret®, apicibus concoloribus
non clavatis ; hypothecium pallidum. Iodo gel. hym. non tincta
nee spor® nisi flavescentes. Supra folia.
Lecidea secubans, sp. nov.
Thallus pallidus vel pallide cinerascens tenuis, s®pissime granulis
albidis minutissimis creberriter inspersus ; apothecia innata pallida
vel obscure pallida concaviuscula parva (latit. circ. #2 mm.), margine
albido circumscisso cincta ; spor® (1 - 2)n® incolores oblong® vel
ellipsoide® murali-divis®, '024 - *036 x #009 - *016 mm. ; paraphyses
non bene distinct® irregulares anastomosantes; hypothecium incolor*
Iodo gel. hym. non tincta. Supra folia.
Dr. Jas. Stirton on Lichens growing on Living Leaves. 103
Coenogonium dialeptizum, sp. nov.
Thallus pallidus vel pallid e lutescens, e filamentis non articulatis,
dense contextis, tenuissimis (latit. *005 - '007 mm.) passim hirsutulis
constitutus. Spermogonia pallide flavescentia, parva, fere globosa
(latit. circ. *15 mm.) ; spermatia fusiformes, ssepius curvul®,
•007 - *009 x *0015 mm. Apothecia juvenilia modo visa; para-
physes graciles (latit. circ. *002 mm.) distinct® apicibus incoloribus
clavatulis.
Platygrapha rotula (Mnt.)
This lichen varies much in the size and shape of its spores, in the
tint of its hvpothecium, and not a little in its reactions with iodine,
but the outward manifestations are constant and characteristic.
The perithecium is black, lateral, and obliquely set, Le. truncate-
conical.
Platygrapha pnemorsa, sp. nov.
Thallus pallido-, vel cinereo-virescens tenuis, minute granuloso-
inspersus ; apothecia nigra (latit. circ. #4 mm.) in prominentia thal-
linis depressis innata, perithecio nigro oblique laterali; spor®
(4 - 8)n® incolores rect® obtuse fusiformes, 3 - 7 - septat®, '035 —
•052 x *004 — *0055 mm. ; paraphyses graciles irregulares non bene
distinct® apicibus incoloribus non clavatis ; hvpothecium nigrum.
Iodo gel. hym. non tincta vel passim leviter rubescens. Gonidia
oblonga in lineis radiantibus dense disposita. Foliicola.
This ought to be separated from PL rotula. Its external appear-
ance is also characteristic.
Platygrapha tumidula, sp. nov.
Thallus pallide virescens tenuis, granulis albidis firmulis hemi-
sphsericis parvis (latit. circ. '08 mm.) inspersus ; apothecia rotunda
fusco-nigra vel nigra, in tuberculis thallinis depressis innata, plana
parva (latit. *1 — *13 mm.), margine thallodeo cincta; spor® 8n®
incolores oblongae 3 - septat®, *015 — *023 x -0045 - *00G5 mm. ; para-
physes graciles pare® irregulares non distinct® apicibus fere
incoloribus ; hvpothecium incolor vel fere incolor. Iodo gel. hym.
non tincta nisi flavescens.
Supra foliola Bactridis campestris.
Platygrapha quadrangula, sp. nov.
Thallus cinereus vel cinereo-virescens tenuis membranaceus ;
apotjiecia nigra sessilia obtuse quadrangularia (latit. *2 - '5 mm.),
epithecio albido acute sed irregulariter quadrangulari, perithecio
104 Philosophical Society of Glasgow.
nigro oblique laterali ; spore (1 - 3)n» incolores oblongae (4 - 7) -
loculares, loculis apicalibus nonnihil amplioribus, '015 - '024 x *006
- "0085 mm. ; paraphyses graciles irregulares interdum quasi inter-
rupte vel subcontinuse ; hypothecium incolor. Iodo gel. hym. non
tincta. Foliicola.
In only one instance have six spores been detected in one theca ;
in all others the number varied from one to three.
Platygrapha rutila, sp. nov.
Thallus pallide virescens tenuis minute granuloso-inspersus ;
apothecia coccinea rotunda vel interdum nonnihil difformia vel
angularia (latit. *15 - *4 mm.), concava zeorina, viz., acute marginata
et margine thallino prominulo cincta ; spore 8nae incolores oblongte,
vel fusiformi-oblongae, 3 - septate interdum 1 —septate, '008 - -012
x -003 - '0035 mm. ; paraphyses distincte apicibus incoloribus clava-
tulis; hypothecium rufescens (K. purpurascens). Iodo gel. hym.
non tincta. Foliicola.
Affinis PL coccinece (Leight.), sed sporis minoribus et 8nis, &c.
Platygrapha nebulosa, sp. nov.
Thallus pallide virescens vel lurido- virescens tenuis; apothecia
fusca plana rotunda (-3 - '9 mm.) omnino depressa vel interdum
subinnata, margine depresso albido, late ncbuloso vel nbrilloso-
contexto cincta; spone 8nsc incolores oblongae vel fusiformi-oblongae,
3 - septate, -009 - -012 x -003 - '0035 mm. ; paraphyses graciles in-
distincte irregulares apicibus incoloribus non clavatis ; hypothecium
fuscum vel fusco nigrum grumosum. Iodo gel. hym. cocrulescens
presertim thccse. Foliicola.
The paraphyses are nob distinct, but are traceable, and rendered
more so by K. The thecse are not arthonioid, and altogether a
section of the apothecium presents a firmer, more compact appear-
ance than in the Arthoniae; otherwise this lichen might have ranked
in this genus along with the others having flat scale-like apothecia.
Platygrapha homala, sp. nov.
Thallus pallidus vel pallide cinereo-virescens tenuissimus; apo-
thecia fuscu plana rotunda vel ellipsoidea parva (latit. *2 - "5 mm.)
omnino depressa; sporae (4 - 8)nae incolores obtuse fusiformes inter-
dum curvulw (4 - 8) - septate, -014- -021 x -003 - '0035 mm., ra-
rissime 9 - septate ct -026 x -004 mm.; paraphyses pellucidae indis-
tincte; hypothecium fuscescens vel pallidius interdum nigricans.
Todo gel. hym. coerulescens praesertiin thecarum. Foliicola.
The thcca* are not arthonioid, but the paraphyses are rather
Dr. Jas. Stirton on Liclicm growvn<j on Licing Leaves. 105
vague. This lichen is accordingly only provisionally ranked with
the Platygraphse.
Arthonia aciniformis, sp. nov.
Thallos pallidus, vix ullus visibilis; apothecia fusca vel fusco-
nigra plana rotunda (latit. "2 - #4 mm.) omnino depressa; spore
8nae in thecis fere sphaericis et plerumque confertis, oblongo-
obovatae vel forms acinorum uvae, incolores 1 - septatae, *0085 -
•012 x *0045 - -006; paraphyses nullae distinctae; hypothecium incolor.
Iodo gel. hym. non tincta vel passim leviter fulvescens. Foliicola.
Arthonia accolens, sp. nov.
Thallus cinereo-virescens tenuissimus; apothecia intus pallide
foscescentia, fusca plana rotunda (latit. -2 - -5 mm.) omnino de-
pressa; sporae (2 - 8)nae incolores oblongae vel potius clavato-ovi-
formes 2 - septatae interdum 1 - septatse, -012 - '01C x *0045 — *0055
mm.; paraphyses nullae distinctse; hypothecium concolor. Iodo geL
hym. non tincta. Foliicola.
This and the preceding are undoubtedly closely allied, but as
the differences, so far as investigated, are constant, they have been
kept separate.
Arthonia commutata, sp. nov.
Thallus leviter virescens tenuis; apothecia fusca plana omnino
depressa; sporae (4 - 8)nae oblongo-obovatae fuscescentes 2 - septatse,
rarissime 1 -septatae, -011 - -017 x 0045 - -006 mm.; paraphyses
valde indistinc tie ; hypothecium concolor. Iodo gel. hym. vinose
rubescens, interdum vinose rubens. Foliicola.
The thallus is composed, as usual, of radiating oblong gonidia;
apothecia somewhat obscure within.
Arthonia suffusa, sp. nov.
Thallus pallide vel cinereo-virescens tenuissimus ; apothecia fusca
rotunda plana (latit. -3 - *8 mm.) omnino depressa; sporae (4 - 8)nae
incolores oblongae, 3 -septatae, -O^-'OlGx -004- -005 mm.; para-
physes indistinctae ; hypothecium fere incolor vel, in lamina
crassiuscula visum, fuscescens. Thecae iodo ccerulescentes, caetero-
quin gel. hym. non tincta. Foliicola.
Arthonia peraffinis (Nyl).
The Peruvian specimens have round or oblong fuscous apothecia,
and the hymeneal gelatine is vinoso-fulvescent, or fulvescent with
iodine. Foliicola.
106 Philosophical Society of Glasgow.
Arthonia perplcxans, sp. nov.
Thallus pallid us vel pallide virescens membranaceus; apothecia
nigra prominula rotundata oblonga vel irregularia parva (longit. *3
mm. vel minora); spore (4 - 8)na* incolores rectse obtuse fusiformes,
5 - septatae interdum (3 - 6) - septata?, -013 - -02 x -003 - -0035 mm.;
paraphyses valdo indistinctce et irregulares; hypothecium fuscum.
Iodo gel. hym. vinose rubescens. Foliicola.
This lichen partakes of the habit and appearance of an Opegrapha,
but no sulcus can be discovered in the apothecium, <fcc.
Arthonia heterella, sp. nov.
Thallus albidus vel pallide cinerasccns tenuis determinatus;
apothecia lutescentia, rufo-cervina, vel etiam fusca, rotunda vel
oblonga (longit. -3 - -8 mm.), tenuia omnina depressa, madefacta
pellucida ; spora? (4 - C - 8)nao incolores ellipsoidea?, vel fusiformi-
ellipsoidcje, murali-divisa?, *022 - -033 x *009 — *015 mm.; paraphyses
gracillima* irregularis, interdum ramosulse non distinctse apicibus
incoloribus. Iodo gel. hym. non tincta nisi lutescens, protoplasma
thecarum rubescens vel fulvescens. Supra folia Bactridis cam-
pestris, &c.
This species is included under the genus Arthonia, as externally
it presents much the appearance of the rest of the section, although
the thecaj are scarcely arthonioid, and the thread-like paraphyses
imbedded in what appears as a stiff jelly might warrant association
with the Lecidea?.
Mclaspilea symplecta, sp. nov.
Thallus pallidus vel pallide virescens tenuis; apothecia sessilia
plana vel convexula parva (latit. '2 - *25 mm.), nigricantia, pallide
fuscescentia vel pallide rufescentia, mai'gino non prominulo pallidiore
cincta ; spora) in thecis arthonioideis (2 - 4)we plerumque 3nae
oblongo-cylindraceae vel fusiformi-cylindraceap, murali-divisae, *07
— *1 x -011 - -015 mm.; paraphyses distinctse filiformes irregulares
ramosne apicibus intricate contextis; hypothecium pallide fuscescens
vel fere incolor tenuo grumosum. Iodo geL hym. leviter cceru-
lescens, ea thecarum intense ccerulescens.
Supra foliola Qtiassice amarcc. Affinis M. metabolm (Nyl.)
The epithecium appears as an almost continuous covering into
which the paraphyses are inserted.
Verrucaria retrusa, sp. nov.
Thallus nigro-cinereus tenuis; apothecia nigra mediocria (latit.
Dr. Jas. Stirton on Lichens growing on Living Leaves. 107
•2 — '3 mm.) prominula obtecta, perithecio crasso, dimidiatim nigro
et incurvulo ; sporo in thecis cylindraceis 8nae incolores cylin-
draceae vel obtuso fusiformes simplices, *009- #013 x -003 — '004
mm.; paraphyses distinctte nliformes. Iodo gel. hym. non tincta.
Spermatia oblonga, -0045 - -0055 x 001 - -0015 mm. Foliicola.
Verrucaria pertensa, sp. nov.
Thallus pallide cinereus rugosus vel potius a laciniis adpressis
minutia irregularibus plerumque radiantibus percursus ; apothecia
prominula obtecta (latit. circ. *4 mm.), perithecio tenui pallido vel
fusco vel etiam nigro dimidiato; spone 8nce uniseriatae incolores
fusiformes 1 - scptatae, *013 - *018 x -004 — "005 mm. ; paraphyses
distinct® nliformes. Iodo protoplasma thecarum dilute vinose
rubescens vel fulvescens. Foliicola.
Verrucaria perexigua, sp. nov.
Thallus pallidus, vix ullus visibilis; apothecia nigra nitida minuta
(latit. *1 - -15 mm.) dimidiata; sporae 8nw in thecis saccatis,
incolores oblongse vel fusiformi-oblongse 3 — septatae, -011- '017 x
•004 — *00o mm.; paraphyses nullse distinctae. Iodo gel. hym. vix
tincta nisi interdum leviter rufescens. Foliicola.
The paraphyses appear as faint irregular lines in a stiff jelly.
Supra folia Soroceae ?
Verrucaria rubicolor, sp. nov.
Thallus flavo-virescens vel interdum obscure cinerascens tenuis
membranaceus, bene definitus; apothecia vinoso-rubentia translucida
e cellulis oblongis parallele dispositis fere omnino composite,
dimidiata, parva (latit. circ. -25 mm.); sporao 8nae incolores obtuse
fusiformes, 3 -septatae interdum 1 -septatae, *018- *02G x '001-
•005 mm.; paraphyses distinctae nliformes. Iodo gel. hym. non
tincta. Foliicola.
Verrucaria rubentior, sp. nov.
Similis prsecedenti, sed apotheciis parvioribus (latit. circ. -15 mm.)
et sporis, 3 - septatis, -013 - -017 x -003 - 004 mm. Foliicola.
The apothecia appear to be composed of larger cells more irregularly
disposed. Both have affinities apparently to V. lectUsima.
Verrucaria prsostans (Nyl.)
Verrucaria papillifera, sp. nov.
Thallus pallide cinereus tenuissimus; apothecia fusca, fere
108 Philosophical Society of Glasgow.
sphaerica sessilia nonnihil thallodeo-obducta (apicibus nudis) parva
(latit. '2 vcl minora), perithecio fere integro vel integro ; spore
8nae incolores fusiformes 8 - 13 - septatae, -05 - *065 x -00G - '008
mm; parapliyses filiformes. Iodo gel. hym. non tincta. Foliicola.
Verrucaria repanda, sp. nov. t
Th alius pallidus vel pallide virescens tenuis, interdum vix ullus
visibilis; apotliecia nigra, perithecio duplici, exteriori piano late
expanso (latit. 5 — 1*6 mm.) medio convexo et centro umbonato,
interiori globoso tenui, integro nigro vel subtus pallidiore, parvo
(latit. *2 - -3 mm.) ; sporse 8nae incolores obtuse fusiformes plerum-
que crescenticae, (7 — 16)— septate, -07 - *13 x -007 — *012 mm.; para-
physes graciles filiforcncs. Iodo gel. hym. non tincta. Gonidia sub
perithecio exteriori disposita, virescentia mediocria rotunda vel
nonnihil oblonga. Foliicola.
FUNGILLI?
Opercularia firma.
Thallus pallide vel sordide virescens tenuis luevigatus, mem-
branaceus vel papyraceus; apotliecia nigra vemiciformia innata
apicibus denudatis non perforatis (quantum scio), minuta (latit. circ.
•06 mm. vel interdum pauxillum ampliora), sparsa vcl plura (3 - 10)
in tuberculis thallinis congregata; spora> in massa dcnudata
numerosae, incolores oblongo-fusiformes, vel interdum obovato-
fusiformes, 3 - 7 — septatae, plerumque 4 - 5 — septataa, #022 - -03 x
•005 - -007 mm.; parapliyses nullae visibiles. Iodo gel. hym. non
tincta. Foliicola.
Beneath the membranous pellucid epithallus there is a layer of
gonidia of a green colour, and round or oblong in shape (longit.
•006 - -011 mm.); cells resembling spermatia have been seen in the
field of tho microscope, fusiform and generally curved, *015 x '0015
mm.
The question arises, is this organism a fungus parasitic on the
thallus of a lichen, or is it a lichen on its own proper thallus. The
same thallus has been repeatedly seen on several leaves, but with
no other fruit than that just described.
According to modern notions of classification, almost everything
tends towards the supposition that the plant is a parasitic fungus.
The absence of parapliyses, thecal, the negative reactions by means
of iodine, as well as the well defined spore-septa, are all in favour of
this ; on the other hand, the characteristic thallus can be easily
Dr. Jas. Stirton on Lichens growing on Li ring Leaves. 109
stripped off the leaf, carrying with it the fruit, which has no apparent
relation to the structure of the leaf.
Nematidia excelsior.
Thallus pallide yirescens laevigatas tenuis membranaceus ; apo-
thecia extus fusca convexula, rotunda vel ellipsoidea, *5 x *2 mm.,
superne tegumenta compacta cfformantia, basi deficientia ; sporae a
membrana basillari pellucida oriundse, numerosae, denudatae, incolores
cylindraceac curvatae vel etiam contortae, -15 - -3 x -003 - '004: mm.,
(30 - 60) - septataa. Gonidia virescentia oblonga mediocria in line is
radiantibus sita et sub cpithallo stratum continuum efformantia.
Foliicola.
Nematidia tenella.
Thallus pallide vel sordide virescens tenuis membranaceus;
apothecia fusca vel fusco-nigra (latit. circ. *4 mm.) plana, margine
albido vel pallido-lutescente, lato laevigato prominulo cincta, primum
eodem fere obtocta ; caetera, ut in praecedente ; sporae a membrana
basilar i pellucida (iodo vinoso-rufescente vel vinoso-fulvescente)
oriundae, numerosae denudatae, cylindraceae, simplices, *1 - "2 x "0025
- -003 mm. Gonidia sat copiosa virescentia rotunda vel oblonga
mediocria irregularitcr disposita.
Lichens gathered in Upper Chili by Mr. John King.
Everniopsis? trulla (Ach.)
In this lichen the medullary stratum is very thin, and is
composed of bundles of slender fibres, about '002 mm. in diameter,
enveloped in a stiff jelly. The fibres can be easily separated and
isolated by K., especially after pressure between slips of glass. In
this respect the lichen differs from Everniopsis, as described by
Nylander (Syn., p. 374), otherwise the characters are nearly identical,
although it is smaller. The thallus is rugose beneath, and the
paraphyses very indistinct. There is besides a glaucous tint above,
instead of the straw colour.
In view of such differences, which involve almost generic distinc-
tions between Everniopsis and Parmelia, it might be as well to
revert, meanwhile, to the latter genus, and to distinguish the
present lichen under the name Parmelia truUifera.
PhyBcia thysanodes, sp. nov.
Thallus aurantiaco-miniatus vel miniatus (K. purpurascens) fere
omurino anguste laciniato-divisus, laciniis adscendentibus planis
lineoribuB (longit. '5-1*7 mm.; latit. '1 - '3 mm.) vel sursum
110 Philosophical Society of Glasgow.
nonnihil dilatatis aliquoties divisis, divisionibas apice retusis
vel seme] vel bis plus minus profunda bifidis, subtus concolor vel
subsimilis ; apothecia concoloria plana (latit. *3 - *6 mm.), margine
integro pallidiore cincta; sporae 8n® incolores oblongse polari-
biloculares (tubulo jungente brevissimo), '012- *016 x -00G - -007
mm; parapbyses distinct® apicibus clavatis fulvis parce granuloso-
inspersis (K. persistenter roseo-tinctis). Iodo gel. hym. coerulescens.
Corticola.
Affinis Ph. cymbaliferas, sed multo minor, <fec.
Lecanora thelephora, sp. nov.
Thallus albus vel albidus crassus (alt. 1-3 mm.), papillas
proferens crassulas stalacticas erectas, ssepius stipitatas, simplices
vel rarius semel divisas (K.-C. aurantiaco-rufas); apothecia sub-
stipitata concava vel planiuscula (latit. circ. *7 mm.) in apicibus
papillarum expansis insidentia, margine thallino cincta, intus
coerulescentia, supra intensius tincta; spora 8nae incolores
ellipsoide® simplices, '008- *011 x'-005 - "007 mm.; paraphyses non
bene distinctce apicibus coerulescentibus; hypothecium incolor.
Iodo gel. hym. intense coerulescens. Saxicola.
Lecanora erioides, sp. nov.
Thallus prostratus, citrinus, crassiusculus, molliusculus, floccu-
losus vel fere spongiosus, ambitu nonnihil lobatus (EL - ); apothecia
concoloria vel passim aurantiaca innata vel innato-sessilia, plana
vel convexiuscula mediocria (latit. 4-1 mm.) vix marginata; spone
incolores obtuse fusiform es, 3-septatac, -012- -017 x -003 — *0035
mm. ; paraphyses irregulares, non confertae apicibus incoloribus ;
hypothecium incolor. Iodo gel. hym. vinose rubescens. Ad ramos
arborum.
It is somewhat doubtful whether this lichen is a Lecanora,
inasmuch as no spermogonia have been detected.
Lecanora bullifera, sp. nov.
Thallus crassiusculus bullato-squamulosus, squamulis contiguis
vel interdum concretis, crasse albido-pulverulontis sed detritis
aurantiaco-fulvis vel aurantiaco-rufis (K. purpurascentibus); apo-
thecia aurantiaco-rufa vel coccinea, primum in bullis innata et
parva, demum expansa et fere sessilia plana marginata biatorina
mediocria (latit. *2 — '8 mm.); spore 8nae incolores oblongse 1 — septate
interdum simplices, *012-'018x '0045 - '0055 mm. ; paraphyses
crassiusculte distinct® (latit. '0025— '003 mm.), articulate, apicibus
incoloribus incrassatulis articulatis, granulis fulvis creberriter in-
Dr. Jas. Stirton on Lichens growing on Living Leaves. Ill
spersis (K. rubentibus) ; hypothecium incolor. Iodo gel. hym.
ccerulescens. Gonidia ccerulescentia majuscula. Saxicola.
Pertusaria melanospora (Nyl.)
Forma parvior sporis (2 — 4)nis rarissime 6nis, *05 — '075 x *028 —
•045 mm., apotheciis parvioribus vix elevatis. Spermatia acicu-
laria curvula vel geniculata, #017 — '024 x g0005 mm.
Lectularia perrimosa, gen. nov.
Thallus cinereo-fuscus vel nigro-fuscus laevigatas determinatus,
8quamuloso-concretus (squamulis appositis concavis raarginibus
evertis), madefactus cinereo-virescens et tunc squamulis planis,
(K. - C. sordide erythrinosis) ; apothecia innata vel madefacta
innate-sessilia, verruciformia hemisphaerica, nigra, parva (latit.
•2 - *3 mm.), peritbecio nigro laterali, supra convergent© et nonnihil
radiato-stiiato, cpitbecio rotundato, madefacto (latit. *1 - *15 mm.);
sporse (4— 8)naj incolores dein fuscse, vetuste fere nigra*, ellip-
soidece murali-divisse, *022 - '035 x g009- *016 mm. ; parapbyses
molliuscula?, gracillimae, conferte, pellucidse non bene distinct®,
apicibus fere incoloribus; bypotbecium fere incolor. Iodo gel.
hym. non tincta, tbecse rubesccntes. Saxicola.
Tbe hymenium bas tbe firmness and consistency of a Lecidea,
and differs accordingly from that of a Verrucaria. Tbe spores vary
much in size, even in the same specimen, and through age become
shrivelled, as in Urceolaria.
This lichen, apart from its black, firm peritheciura, approaches
closely in constitution to Urceolaria, and bears the same relation-
ship to Urceolaria that Lecidea does to Lecanora.
Lecidea Kitensis, sp. nov.
Thallus fuscus, castaneo-fuscus vel fusco-niger crassiusculus
areolatus, areolis gibboso-convexis, nitescens vel albido-pruinosus
(fere sicut in L. fusco-atra) ; apothecia nigra sessilia parva (latit.
circ. *25 mm.), plana vel convexula marginata ; spores 8nae fuscse
oblongae 1 - septate, -009 — '011 x *004 - -0055 mm. ; parapbyses non
distinct® conglutinate apicibus clavatis ccerulesccntibus ; hypo-
thecium incolor vel leviter fuscescens. Iodo gel. hym. ccerulescens,
thee® sordide violacese, pnesertim vacuse. Saxicola.
112 Philosophical Society of Gla.^oir.
XII. — The Constitution of Malt Liquors and their Influence upon
Digestion and Nutrition. By J. J. Coleman, Esq., F.I.C.,
F.C/.S.
[Read before the Society, April 17, 187S.]
A liquid resembling in appearance British porter, and labelled
Malt Extract, has been sent to us from Germany during the last
few years. It is retailed by pharmaceutical chemists.
Some remarkable statements arc set forth by Joh. Hofl^ the
vendor of this preparation. It is affirmed to have been in use in
nearly all the royal courts of Europe ; that it has been honourably
mentioned by four emperors, four kings, and a dozen or two of
royal princes; and that it is sold by upwards of five thousand
agents, and in all parts of the European continent. Our esteemed
President, Dr. Fergus, brought it under my notice about twelve
months ago, and acquainted me with the fact of its having in
many cases coming under his own observation proved of service
in restoring the energies of individuals suffering from faulty
nutrition.
Suffering at that time from an attack of broncliitis, which had
not only reduced strength, but brought on extreme exhaustion from
inability to appropriate food, I tried the effect of Huff's malt extract,
in the usual dose of a wincglassful two or three times a day. Its
use was followed by marked effects, — 1st, Food which had hitherto
been found to pass the alimentary canal uncliangcd digested pro-
perly; 2nd, There appeared an increased power of evolving animal
heat and storing up fat.
Passing beyond personal experience, I have experimented with it
in other directions, particularly upon thin, cold, and aged people,
who are unanimous in attributing to the liquid sustaining powers
which are not commonly observed with alcoholic liquors:
It was therefore with considerable interest that I undertook
its chemical examination. The mean result of a number of analyses
showed it to consist of —
Mr. J. J. Coleman on tlw Constitution of Malt Liquors. 113
Alcohol,
Extractive matter,
Water,
4*00
812
87*88
100*00
On evaporating to dryness and incinerating, there was obtained
of ash residue *05 per cent., calculated upon the liquid.
The preparation is therefore a variety of porter or beer, as will
easily be seen from reference to the analysis of a number of well-
known beers. In appearance, however, it resembles porter rather
than beer.
Alcohol.
Extract
Water.
Authority.
HofFs malt extract,
4-00
812
87*88
Coleman
Royal Bavarian bock beer, .
4-00
7*20
88*80
Kaiser.
„ Salvator „
4-20
8 00
87-80
ti
London beer,
4-50
5-00
9050
Average.
,, porter,
400
4-50
9150
ft
Edinburgh ale,
4-41
3-58
92 01
Paul.
In fact, it reminds one of the royal beers of Bavaria, the analysis
of which it closely resembles. These beers were very lovingly
dwelt upon by Liebig, who uses the following words : — "The beers
of England and France, and for the most part those of Germany,
become gradually sour by contact with the air. This defect does
not belong to the beers of Bavaria, which may be preserved at
pleasure in half-full casks without alteration in the air. This
precious quality must be ascribed to a peculiar process employed for
fermenting the wort — that is, fermentation from below — which has
solved one of the finest chemical problems." Without committing
myself to any hypothetical views upon the nature of the process
which has evolved the product, or as to its identity or non-identity
with those celebrated Bavarian beers, it may be remarked, that the
liquid imported varies a little in its tendency to turn sour. Some-
times it will not do so if exposed for weeks; other samples have
turned sour with but slight exposure.
Referring again to the analysis of the liquid, there are two points
to which I wish to direct attention.
The word "malt extract" is by common consent of chemists
applied to that portion of a malt liquor which either has not been
fermented into alcohol, or which, after fermentation, has escaped
conversion into alcohol. Further, malt extract is a solid, and is
obtained by evaporating the liquids containing it to dryness. It
Vol. XL— No. 1. i
114 Philosophical Society of Glasgow.
will be seen therefore that Hoff's liquid is something more than
"malt extract/' for it contains besides this body alcohol and the
usual quantity of carbonic acid gas, which causes any ordinary
fermented liquid to froth up when liberated from the bottles con-
taining it. In fact, the presence of large quantities of carbonic acid
gas in Hoff's liquid shows that its alcohol has been produced by
internal fermentation. But, on the other hand, this liquid of Hoff's
produces on evaporation to dryness an extract which differs from
the solid extract usually obtained from British beers. Malt extract
obtained from such sources contains a large percentage of crystallis-
able sugar, whilst that from Hoff's liquid is almost entirely con-
stituted of the dark -brown uncrystallisable extractive matter
present, but in less proportion, in the beers of this country.
It will therefore be convenient to call this preparation merely
Hoff's liquid, rather than lead to confusion by retaining the name
it is commonly known by.
With the information gained by its analysis, the question arises,
To what constituents of Hoff's liquid are to be attributed its
marked physiological effects? There are, no doubt, some people
who will be inclined to say that the value of the liquid is its con-
tained alcohol. There are, no doubt, others who would strenuously
deny this. The question of the nutritive value of alcohol has been
ably dealt with by, amongst others, two very distinguished men,
viz., Dr. B. W. Richardson, F.RS., and Dr. Edward Smith, F.R.S.,
— not from a theoretical standpoint, but from that of laborious
experiment.
Dr. Edward Smith administered, either to himself or one of his
assistants, weighed quantities of food, selected from the fatty, the
starchy, or the albuminous articles of diet. He carefully noted the
effect of these varied foods upon the function of respiration. That
is, taking hold of the well-established principle that animal heat is
produced by the oxidation of food by means of air drawn into the
lungs, he collected and analysed the products of respiration with
the view to ascertaining to what extent and how soon the carbon of
the food is eliminated from the lungs in the form of carbonic
acid.
It would be out of the question quoting all Dr. Edward Smith's
results, which have been embodied in a number of papers read to
the Royal Society; but this is what he says about brandy: — "One
and a half ounce of excellent brandy diluted with six ounces of
water caused an average decrease of 0*2 grain in the carbonic acid
expired per minute. " In another experiment the average decrease
Mr. J. J. Coleman on tlie Constitution of Malt Liquors. 115
was 0*38 grain. The quantity of air inspired fell 42, 37, and 34
cubic inches per minute in different experiments.
In regard to whisky he remarks, "One and a half ounce of
whisky, containing forty-five per cent, of alcohol in six ounces of
cold water, caused an average decrease in the carbonic acid expired
of '33 grain per minute." Let us compare these results with what
was obtained from the same weight of sugar.
He says, " One and a half ounce of sugar dissolved in water gave
a maximum increase in the carbonic acid evolved of 2*18 grains per
minute, and an increase in the air inspired of 111 cubic inches per
minute. " We are thus shown that if by food is to be understood
substance that acts as fuel to the system by being burnt into car-
bonic acid and water, then no chemical evidence can be obtained
that alcohol has a right to be called food.
Let us turn now to the evidence of Dr. Richardson. He says,
" It would be impossible for me to recount the details of the long
researches, extending with intervals over three years, and which
were conducted in my laboratory, to determine the influence of
alcohol upon animal temperature. The facts obtained may be
epitomised as follows : — The first effect of taking alcohol is the stage
of excitement — viz., a rise of temperature of about half a degree,
especially on the cutaneous surface. This might be considered as
due to the combustion of alcohol. It is not so ; it is in truth
a process of cooling.
" During this stage, which is comparatively brief, the internal
temperature is declining, and the reddened skin is so far reduced in
tone that cold applied thereto increases the suffusion. It is this
most deceptive stage which led old observers into the error that
alcohol warms the body. In the second stage the temperature first
comes down to its natural standard, and then declines below
what is natural. In man this fall is represented by three-fourths
of a degree. During the third stage the fall in temperature rapidly
increases, and amounts in man to as much as two and a half degrees,
and in birds to fully five and a half degrees. There is always
during this stage a profound coma, and whilst this lasts the temper-
ature continues reduced. The sleep of apoplexy and the sleep of
drunkenness may be distinguished by a marked difference in animal
temperature. In apoplexy the temperature of the body is above,
in drunkenness below the natural standard of 98°. What," exclaims
Dr. Richardson, " is the inference ? It is that alcohol is not burned
after the manner of food which supports animal combustion, but
that it is decomposed into secondary products by oxidation, at the
116 Philosophical Society of Glasgow.
expense of the oxygen which ought to be applied to the natural
heating of the body."
This concensus of evidence, coupled with the general experience
that the so-called warming up effects of a dose of alcohol, when
taken upon an empty stomach, is followed by a reaction in about
forty minutes, goes far to prove that the permanent warming up
effects of HofF's liquid cannot be owing to its contained alcohol.
But supposing alcohol is not a direct food, may it not be a fat-
forming food? This question has been dealt with by Dr. Rich-
ardson. He remarks in his Cantor Lectures, "Notoriously ale
and beer fatten, but this fattening may not be due to the
alcohol itself, but to the sugar or starchy matters which are taken
with it."
Dr. Richardson evidently sees a difficulty here, but offers an
insufficient explanation. In the latter part of this paper I will show
how the difficulty can be dealt with, but meanwhile note what he
says : — " Alcohol, when it is largely taken, unless the will of the
imbiber is very powerful, is wont to induce desire for undue sleep,
or at least desire for physical repose. Under such circumstances
there is an interference with ordinary nutritive processes. The
wasted products of nutrition are imperfectly eliminated, the respi-
ration becomes slower and less effective, and there is set up a series
of changes tending, independently of the alcohol as a direct producer
of fat, to development and deposit of fatty tissue in the body." Now
this storing up of fat referred to by Dr. Richardson, which occurs
with those who abuse alcoholic liquors, is a very different matter to
the healthy nutrition which exists by one who has benefited by
drinking Hoff's liquid in small doses, or from the daily swallowing
of a glass of London porter. There is a distinct nutritive effect
produced in some cases of this kind which cannot be attributed to
the influence of the alcohol contained in the liquid. I have heard
married ladies declare that whilst suckling their strength would
have succumbed had it not been for the sustaining effects of a
bottle of porter taken daily. Evidence of this kind, which I
believe is very common, is most important. The maternal instinct
is far too strong to leave in doubt a problem which so materially
affects the welfare of her offspring. I am not going to argue
that fatness is to be considered in all cases a desirable condition,
but the very appearance of a score of beer-drinking English-
men, as compared with an equal number of whisky-drinking
Scotchmen, is an indication of some specific effect which malt
liquors have upon nutrition. Going a step farther in this in-
Mr. J. J. Coleman on tlie Constitution of Malt Liquors. 117
quiry, let us ignore the evidence of Dr. Edward Smith and Dr.
Richardson. We have no right to do so, but for the moment let
it be admitted that alcohol is a food. Let us take typical cases, on
the one hand, of a person imbibing a tumbler of porter every day,
on the other hand of a person swallowing HofTs liquid daily, in
accordance with the direction upon the label. The alcohol con-
tained in the daily dose of HofTs liquid will weigh about 100 grains,
the extractive matter will weigh 200 grains. Without going into
the minutiae of chemical calculation, it may be stated that these
substances contain about half their weight of carbon. Now, what
proportion does this 150 grains bear to the total carbon consumed
per day by an average man ? Liebig, Playfair, and others have
given us data. An average man consumes from 4,000 to 6,000
grains of carbon per day ; so that the quantity contained in the
daily dose of HofTs liquid does not amount to more than three
per cent, of one's ordinary daily diet. In the case of a tumblerful of
London porter, containing say four per cent, of alcohol and fivo per
cent, of extractive matter, the contained carbon would amount to
about 200 grains, or about four per cent, of an average day's diet.
But a more familiar illustration may be offered. The whole of
the food value of a glass of porter cannot exceed Hie weight of sugar
equivalent to its alcohol or extractive matter, or about one ounce,
whilst most people consume three ounces of sugar daily, employed
in sweetening tea, coffee, puddings, or fruits.
These figures, if we are to believe Drs. Smith and Richardson,
show the food value of the liquids in too favourable a light, but even
in the form I have just given them, they are utterly insufficient
to account for their marked physiological effects, which are fre-
quently the sensation of being lifted from a feeling of semi-
starvation to the condition of being effectually warmed and
nourished, and are incomprehensible from a chemical analysis of
the liquids.
But although these liquids have no food value of any importance,
may they not have the power of influencing the digestion of otfier
Jood ? If the extractive matter of beer and porter be really malt
extract — that is, if it possesses the qualities of original malt — then
the question is answered affirmatively. It is well known that if luke-
warm water be poured upon fresh-bruised malt, a certain principle
•dissolves, which, from the difficulty of separating it in the pure state,
has hitherto evaded chemical analysis. This substance, called dias-
tase, is a ferment, being capable of converting an indefinite quantity
of insoluble starch, through the stages of soluble starch and dextrin,
118 Philosophical Society of Glasgoic.
into the final product, glucose or grape sugar. The brewer knows
perfectly well that one part of malt contains sufficient diastase to
render soluble and convert into grape sugar the starch of four or
five times its weight of barley. Indeed, the first stage of brewing
beer or porter — viz., the preparation of the wort — is simply con-
verting by the aid of diastase a certain quantity of starch into
sugar, which dissolves in the warm water of the mash, and is then
converted into alcohol by the process of fermentation by the yeast
cell. When the starch has become entirely converted into sugar —
an operation which requires that the temperature shall not exceed
180° Fahr. — then the wort is raised to the boiling point, the hops at
the same time being added. The object of this operation is stated in
our text books to be, first, the destruction of the diastase, which has
served its purpose ; secondly, the precipitation of albuminous com-
pounds likely to interfere with the keeping qualities of the beer.
The diastase is believed to be destroyed at the boiling tempera-
ture, and the liquid ready for a new fermentation by the agency
of yeast, at least as soon as it cools down to the proper temperature
for the second fermentation.
Hence it might be concluded a priori that it is impossible for malt
liquors, as sold to the public, to contain diastase. It may be so,
but the nature of these ferments are very obscure. It occurred to
me that the extractive matter of our ordinary malt liquors might
contain the element of a ferment in some latent form, ready to be
called into activity during the process of digestion.
The importance of such an agent may be estimated, when it is
considered that starch forms so large a proportion of the diet of
man; that in its natural state, or even when boiled, it is not soluble
in the sense of being capable of absorption through a membrane
(although it may become pasty or sticky) ; and that before it can be
absorbed by the assimilative organs it must become soluble.
Starch constitutes 47*4 per cent, of wheaten bread, 58*4 per cent,
of oatmeal, 18*8 per cent, of potatoes, 66*3 per cent, of wheaten flour,
79*1 per cent, of rice, and 82 per cent, of arrow-root, so that the
whole matter seems of sufficient importance to merit careful experi-
ment. It is obvious that if malt liquors exert a solvent action upon
starch, the phenomena can be investigated external to the stomach,
provided the necessary temperature and other conditions of the
animal digestion be imitated. Such experiments have been con-
ducted, not only with Hoff's liquid, but with ordinary beers and
porters.
The general method of procedure was to digest weighed quantities
Mr. J. J. Coleman on the Constitution of Malt Liquors. 119
of bread or potatoes with measured quantities of the liquid I wished
to examine, at blood heat, for the required number of hours; fresh
water was then added, to bring the bulk of the original mixture
exactly to its initial measurement ; the semi-fluid liquid was then
either filtered or dialysed, and a fractional part evaporated to dry-
ness, or examined in other ways to determine the total solids dis-
solved. Simultaneously with each determination a blank experiment
was made with pure bread or potatoes and water, so as to ensure
comparisons being made under precisely identical conditions.
The latter precaution was especially necessary, as scarcely two
samples of bread are alike as to their soluble constituents. By
digesting ordinary bread two or three days with warm water, it
becomes soluble to the extent of ten or fifteen per cent., and in a
short time becomes slightly putrid. Under such circumstances it
is not unusual for the starch to become partially soluble by contact
action with the decomposing gluten.
This fact was borne in mind most carefully from the very first,
and in fact made the blank experiments absolutely necessary every
time a fresh comparison had to be made.
Some of the experiments were conducted with ordinary beers and
porters, as brought from neighbouring public-houses; but I am in-
debted to the courtesy of Messrs. Bass <fc Co., Messrs. Allsopp <fc Co.,
Messrs. Truman, Hanbury & Co., and Messrs. Bates & Co., for
samples sent me direct from their respective breweries.
Series I.
50 Grammes of bread were digested at blood heat for six hours
with 250 cc. of water, and then dialysed into 500 cc. of water. A
fractional portion of the dialysed fluid was evaporated to dryness,
to determine the total solids, and another portion was examined
volumetrically for glucose by the cupric test. This formed the
blank bread experiment.
Total Solids. Grape Sugar.
Grammes. Grammes.
A. — Blank bread experiment yielded . 1 '10 '40
B.— 60 grammes of Hoffa liquid yielded by
dialysing with the same quantity of
water, liO '36
Sum, . . . 2-20 -76
A and B mixed together, and then treated as
in the blank experiment, ... 2*20 '69
A and B mixed together, treated as in the
blank experiment, but with the ad-
dition of a few drops of hydrochloric
acid, 220 -68
120 Philosophical Society of Glasgow.
These experiments were made simultaneously, and under exactly-
similar conditions, but the results did not give me any encourage-
ment. They are, however, interesting in one point of view : they
show what a small amount of crystalloids can be obtained from the
dialysis of bread and water.
For a second series of experiments mashed potatoes were used ;
but in place of using Graham's dialysers, through the membranes
of which dextrin will scarcely permeate, the semi-fluid masses were
simply thrown upon a filter, no difficulty being experienced in
getting perfectly clear filtrates.
Series II.
100 Grammes of mashed potatoes were digested for six hours at
blood heat with 500 cc. of water, and then filtered — a fractional
part of the filtrate, after dilution to the original bulk, being eva-
porated to dryness for the purpose of estimating the dissolved
solids.
Grammes of
Dissolved Solids.
A. — Blank experiment, conducted as above, yielded . 4*86
B. — 60 grammes Hoff's liquid yielded . . . . 5*00
Sum, 9-86
A mixed with B, and treated as in the blank experiment, 9*66
A mixed with B, and treated as in the blank experiment,
but with a few drops of HC1 extra, . . 9 '56
The results were again negative, and the matter was laid aside
for some months. It then occurred to me that in all these experi-
ments the conditions represented stomachic, but not intestinal,
digestion. The digestion of the stomach is always effected by
secretions which are acid, and it is essentially a peptic or albu-
minoid digestion.
With the exception of such action as may ensue from contact
with the saliva, the starchy matters of the food in great part pass
through the stomach unchanged, and do not become digested until
they pass that organ and come in contact with the pancreatic and
intestinal juices, which are always alkaline. Bread has generally
an acid reaction sufficiently distinct to affect litmus. Malt liquors
are invariably and still more decidedly acid ; so that, independently
Mr. J. J. Coleman on the Constitution of Malt Liquors. 121
of the acid purposely added in some of my experiments, there must
have been in all cases a decided acid reaction. It was therefore
determined to re-commence these experiments with a slight alkaline
reaction, as similar as possible to that of the saliva or pancreatic
juice.
Series III
50 Grammes of bread were digested at blood heat with 200 cc.
of water, made faintly alkaline with sodic hydrate. The total
dissolved solids were then estimated, after digestion for six hours
at blood heat and nitration in the usual way.
Dissolved Solids ;
in Grammes.
A. — Blank experiment yielded 6*00
B. — 60 Grammes of Hoff's liquid, exactly neutralised,
yielded 5*51
Sum 11-51
«
A and B mixed together, and subjected to the conditions
of the blank experiment, yielded . . . .16*33
For the first time there was clear evidence of the correctness of
my surmises, 4*82 grammes of the bread became soluble by the
agency of the HofTs liquid, or about 20 per cent, of its constituent
starch.
The semi-fluid masses were also dialysed, with the following
results: —
Grammes.
A contained of grape sugar 26
B „ -39
Sum, -65
A and B mixed together, and treated as in the blank ex-
periment, yielded of grape sugar . . . . *98
Series IV.
30 Grammes of bread were digested at blood heat for five hours
with 300 cc. of water made faintly alkaline, filtered, and the dis-
solved solids determined.
122 Philosophical Society of Glasgow.
Disaohred Soflda
in
A. — Blank experiment conducted as above, 3*24
B. — 180 grammes of public-house beer made neutral and
evaporated, yielded 13*54
Sum, 1678
A mixed with B, and then treated as in the blank experi-
ment, yielded 1900
It appears therefore that ordinary beer possesses a solvent power
similar to that of HofTs liquid, but to an inferior degree.
Series V.
30 Grammes of bread were digested for twelve hours at blood
heat with 300 cc. of water made faintly alkaline, filtered, and the
dissolved solids determined.
Dissolved Solids
in Grammes.
A. — Blank experiment, conducted as above, yielded . 6*22
B. — 90 grammes of HofTs liquid, made neutral and eva-
porated, yielded 7'50
Sum, 1372
A and B mixed together, and treated as in the blank ex-
periment, yielded 20'73
A. — Blank experiment, conducted as above, yielded . 6*22
D. — 180 grammes of beer from a public-house, made
neutral and evaporated, yielded . . .13*54
Sum, 19*76
A mixed with D, and treated as in the blank experiment, 23*30
In these experiments it is demonstrated that, with twenty-four
hours digestion, 90 grammes of HofTs liquid dissolved 50 per cent,
of the starch of 30 grammes of bread, and that it requires four
times as much beer to effect the same result.
Series VI.
Public-house bottled porter, examined in the same way, indicated
six parts to be equivalent in solvent power to one part of HofTs
Mr. J. J. Coleman on the Constitution of Malt Liquors. 123
liquid. This porter contained, however, only 4*7 per cent, of ex-
tractive matter.
These experiments were satisfactory ; the quantity of sodic or
potassic hydrate added was very minute, and regulated with the
utmost care, to avoid communicating an alkalinity more than suffi-
cient to imitate* the natural alkalinity of the saliva. It was, how-
ever, thought advisable to eliminate doubts on this head by a series
of experiments, in which the alkaline reaction was established by
bicarbonate of soda, or tribasic phosphate of soda.
Sekies VII.
32 Grammes of bread were digested for twenty-four hours at
blood heat with 300 cc. of water made alkaline by 1 gramme of
bicarbonate of soda, and i a gramme of tribasic phosphate of soda,
then filtered, and the dissolved solids determined.
Dissolved Solids
in Grammes.
A. — Blank experiment, conducted as above, yielded . 8'16
B.— 90 grammes of Barton ale, neutralised and evapo-
rated, yielded 11*60
Sum, 19-66
A and B mixed together, and treated as in the blank ex-
periment, yielded 21*80
A. — Blank experiment, as above, yielded . . 8*16
C. — 90 grammes of London porter, neutralised and evapo-
rated to dryness, 7*66
Sum, 15-82
A mixed with C, and treated as in the blank experiment,
yielded 21-81
A.— Blank experiment, as above, yielded . • . 8*16
D.— 90 grammes of Wrexham ale, neutralised, yielded 7*20
Sum, 15-36
124 Philosophical Society oj Glasgotc.
Dissolved Solids
in
A mixed with D, and treated as in the blank experiment,
yielded 1920
A. — Blank experiment, as above, yielded . . 8*16
E.— 90 grammes of Hoff's liquid, neutralised and evapo-
rated, yielded 7 30
Sam, 15-46
A mixed with E, and treated as in the blank experiment,
yielded 2380
These experiments indicate as follows, the figures being calculated
to avoid decimals, and to show the amount of starch in the bread
which became soluble by the agency of the various liquors — the
bread^used in each case being of the same weight.
The Barton ale dissolved 15 per cent, of the starch.
London porter „ 40 ,, ,,
Wrexham ale „ 26 ,, ,,
Hoff's liquid „ CO „ „
In an eighth series of experiments it was determined to eliminate
all sources of error existing from the action of reagents upon gluten,
by using pure starch, which would indeed have been used earlier
had it not been that this investigation was purposely undertaken
to solve a dietetic problem, the conditions of which are not the
swallowing of pure starch.
Series VIII.
15 Grammes of starch mixed with 300 cc. of boiling water, so as
to form a uniform paste, was made faintly alkaline with 3 grammes
of bicarbonate soda, and digested at blood heat for twenty-four
hours. The pasty mass was then diluted with water to 600 cc,
and thrown upon a close filter of thick white paper. A fractional
portion of the filtrate, which was brilliantly clear, was evaporated
to dryness.
Mr. J. J. Coleman on the Constitution of Malt Liquors. 125
Dissolved Solids
in Grammes.
A. — Blank experiment, conducted as above, yielded . 5*18
R— 60 rammea Barton ale, neutralised, yielded . . 8*00
Sum, 1318
A and B mixed, and treated as in the blank experiment,
yielded 14*60
A.— Blank experiment, conducted as above, yielded . 5*18
C. — 60 grammes of London porter, neutralised, yielded . 4*28
9*46
A and C mixed, and treated as in the blank experiment,
yielded 15*01
This last series of experiments is conclusive, and forms a fitting
termination to this stage of the investigation, which has established
a food value for malt liquors not generally understood. Chemi-
cally, of course, it is interesting to know into what substance or
substances the starch is transformed, whether into ordinary dex-
trin, Bechamp's soluble starch, Dubunfraut's maltose, or ordinary
glucose.
These are questions I do not purpose at present going into; but
it may be remarked that the dissolved solids partook more of a
gummy than a saccharine character. Neither have T been able to
fix the limits of the reactions with any degree of certainty ; but it
is clear — and this, physiologically, is of the utmost importance —
that there is a powerful solvent action exerted by all malt liquors
examined, which, with the peristaltic and other muscular actions
of the digestive organs, has probably been but poorly imitated by
the laboratory experiments that have been undertaken.
Another very interesting point came out in this inquiry, viz.,
that it was not the ales richest in alcohol coming from our large
breweries which afforded the best results, which may be explained
in two ways, — either from the fact that in large breweries the
diastase of malt is made to go as far as possible by using raw grain
with the original malt; or secondly, as suggested by our Vice-
126 Philosophical Society of Glasgow.
President, Dr. Wallace, from the excess of alcohol in strong ales
precipitating the diastase before it reaches the consumer.
Before concluding this paper, I must remark that the possibility
of malt in virtue of its diastase becoming a useful article of food
was discussed many years ago. It was supposed that cattle could
be made to assimilate their food better, and fatten quicker, by
mixing with their ordinary diet a certain percentage of malt.
Mr. J. B. Lawes conducted very elaborate experiments for the
Board of Trade in 1866, on the relative values of unmalted and
malted barley for stock. These experiments showed that, with
healthy stock, the addition of malt to their food produced no more
increase of weight than the addition of barley to which the malt
was equivalent. But this is what might reasonably be expected.
In a healthy state, neither man nor animal requires more digestive
solvent than what is supplied naturally. But unfortunately a large
percentage of our fellow-men, especially the inhabitants of cities,
are not in a perfect state of health — nay more, vast numbers, from
the wear and tear of life, are habitual dyspeptics, so that an inno-
cent aid to nature is sometimes a daily necessity. On the other
hand, there are many people whose tendency to develop fat, or
secrete sugar in the form of diabetic urine, indicates at once that
nature requires no assistance by the aid of such a ferment as
diastase.
Lastly, a word or two as to the alcohol of malt liquors. We
have seen, in the early part of this paper, that it has no claim to be
called a food. It may be reasonably asked, Is it of any use what-
ever? I think so. It is a stimulant. It will be asserted by some
that, so far from stimulants being of any use, they are actually
unnecessary and hurtful. In truth, however, man's existence
embraces a continual succession of stimuli, either physical or
mental ; and it will always be so, unless the system is brought
to the dull level of the brute, that knows no stimulus but the
stick of the drover. I have stood by a massive engine, with
cylinders, valves, and gear all complete, and the motor power
steam turned on, but which remained silent and immovable until
a gentle stimulus, applied to the circumference of the fly-wheel,
sent it magnificently into motion, ready to crush with its power
the very agent which started it. So it is with the powerful liquid
alcohol. Employed as a stimulant, it sometimes with a jerk sets
into activity the deadened mechanism of the human body; but
there its action ends, which can only be sustained by food, and
alcohol is not a food. In brief, alcohol has its uses ; but its per-
Discussion on Mr. J. J. Coleman's Paper. 127
rentage in some of the malt liquors I have been referring to might
be safely reduced to lower limits, — indeed they could form more
useful foods if their alcohol were reduced to just sufficient percent-
age to preserve their other constituents from becoming decomposed
and useless.
Discussion on Mb. Coleman's Paper.
The Chairman (Dr. W. Wallace), having characterised the paper
as instructive and suggestive, invited discussion upon it
Dr. Bell said that his experience in medical practice of HofFs
extract of malt scarcely coincided with the results brought forward
by the author of the paper, but he had no doubt of the dietetic
value of such extracts as ale and porter in low states of the system,
and was inclined to attribute not only a stimulating but a nutritive
power to alcohol when used in small doses.
Dr. A. K. Irvine agreed with Dr. Bell in his views regarding
the nutritive qualities of malt liquors.
Dr. Andrew Buchanan endorsed the opinions of the two pre-
vious speakers, and dwelt upon the great importance of using
alcoholic fluids with ordinary food in proper proportions.
The Chairman asked whether in the preparation of HofTs extract
at any stage in the process it was boiled, as in the preparation of
most kinds of fermented liquors; and whether it contained any
extract of hops. He suggested that the ill effects experienced by
some persons from the use of malt liquors might be due to the
presence of hops.
•
Dr. Thomson drew attention to the fact that the effect of alco-
holic fluids was greatly dependent upon individual constitution;
and remarked that in vigorous states of digestion the use of such
fluids was in many cases detrimental. He adhered to the views
expressed by previous speakers regarding the good effects of such
fluids in weakened states of digestion.
128 Philosophical Society of Glasgow.
Mr. James Macteab gave an account of the effects experienced by
him in using HofTs extract while suffering from bilious influenza.
He had no doubt that its effects in his case were markedly bene-
ficial. He had, however, found by experience that a mixture in
equal parts of sweet ale and porter was preferable.
Mr. Ogilvie drew attention to the fact that in the experiments
before them, the proportion of malt extract to ordinary food was
much higher than in common diet; and he suggested that the
author of the paper would do well to continue his investigation
with other proportions. He also remarked that the effects ob-
tained in these experiments had not yet been referred to the
particular component of malt extract to which they were due,
and thence] inferred that it was premature to assume that alcohol
was concerned in the case.
Mr. Coleman, in reply, said that his experiments were conducted
at a temperature of from 100° to 120° Fahr. With respect to Hoff's
extract he explained that, while he in no way advocated the use of
it in preference to that of other bettor known malt liquors, he had
no doubt that many of these produced unfavourable effects in con-
sequence of the high proportion of alcohol and hops which they
contained. He was unable to state the mode of preparation of
Hoff's extract.
On the motion of the Chairman, a cordial vote of thanks was
awarded to Mr. Coleman.
Mr. W. C. Spens on Public Health Legislation for Scotland. 129
XIII. — On tJie Necessity of a General Measure of Legislation for
Scotland with regard to Public Health. By W. C. Spens,
Esq., Advocate, Sheriff-Substitute of Lanarkshire.
[Read before the Society, April 3, 1878.]
Gentlemen, — I believe I owe the honour of addressing you upon
the subject of lecture to the fact that I have written a book upon
The Sanitary System of Scotland- ; its Defects, and proposed Remedies.
I refer at the outset to that work for this reason, that there are
numerous points which I will require to glance at, but have not the
time to deal with in detail, and those who are interested in all or
any of such points, I must refer to that volume. The object I pro-
pose to myself to-night is to touch upon the salient features of our
sanitary system of Scotland which seem to me to require reform;
and if time will permit I will then refer to various amending
provisions of the subject-matter of the law which, I think, should
be introduced, as advisable for, if not essential to, the preserva-
tion of the public health of the community. The law of public
health divides itself into two branches : — 1st, The subject matter
of the law; and 2nd, The administrative bodies and executive
machinery to whom the carrying out of its provisions is entrusted.
The administration of the law, to those who have made any study
of the subject, it will be known, is the most difficult of the two
branches of the law ; any one who has studied the Report of the
Royal Commission of 1869-70 must, I think, come to that conclu-
sion. In England prior to 1867, the date of the passing of our
Public Health Act for Scotland, there had been a great deal of
legislation one way or another on the subject of public health, and
from a want of proper care in the provisions of these Acts there
hadHfeen an almost inextricable confusion in the different Local
Authorities entrusted with their administration.
In our Public Health Act of 1867 there was no confusion as to
who the authorities were. The Board of Supervision was constituted
the Central Authority. In towns being royal, parliamentary, police,
or other burghs, the local or other authorities were tne respective
Town Councils or Police Commissioners. In the parishes the
Vol. XL— No. 1. k
130 Philosophical Socidy of Glasgow.
Parochial Board of each parish respectively was its Local Authority.
Since 1867, we have had no general measure of legislation with
regard to public health, whereas in England there have been a
great number of measures, viz : — The Sanitary Act of 1SG8 and
1870; the Local Government Board Act of 1871; Public Health
Act, 1872 ; the Sanitary Amendment Act, 1874 ; and the Consoli-
dating and Amending Act of 1875.
1. Our present Central Authority, the Board of Supervision, was
called into existence by the Poor Law Act of 1845. Its members-
are the following : — The Lord Provost of Edinburgh, the Lord
Provost of Glasgow, the Solicitor-General for Scotland, the Sheriffs
of Perthshire, Renfrewshire, Ross and Cromarty for the time
being, a j>aid Chairman, and two unpaid members to be nominated
by the Crown. The Chairman at present is certainly a gentleman
who discharges his duties with great ability and acceptance; —
Mr. Walker of Bowland. By the Public Health Act of 1867,
which was the first measure that really systematically dealt with
public health in Scotland, the Board of Supervision was appointed
the Supervising Authority of local authorities in reference to
public health matters. But that the duties under that Act were
not supposed to be very onerous may be gathered from the fact
that the remuneration which was proposed to be allowed to the
legal members of the Board (exclusive of the Solicitor-General,
whose appointment is honorary) — I mean the sheriffs of the three
counties — was fixed at .£50 a year, and I am not aware that up to the
present time there has been any alteration in the scale of remuner-
ation afforded to them for their public health duties. Now,
gentlemen, this is a Board which, up to the present time, has
conducted the duties entrusted to it under the Public Health Act
with ability. That, however, I believe, is mainly due to the
interest which has been taken in the subject by Sheriff Fraser, the
Dean of Faculty, and from the intelligent administration of the
law by the Chairman of the Board, assisted by Mr. Skelton, the
Secretary, — a man of well known ability and energy. But as
regards the constitution of this Board itself, as the Central Public
Health Board, it seems to me that there is no guarantee afforded
thereby that there will be a proper supervision of public health.
I don't suppose the Lord Provost of Glasgow ever dreams of
attending the meetings; I rather think the Lord Provost of
Edinburgh very seldom, if ever, attends these meetings ; I doubt if
the Solicitor-General for Scotland thinks it incumbent upon him to
attend these meetings. I don't think that the Crown nominees
Mr. \V. C. SrENS on Public Health Legislation far Scotland. 131
regularly attend, only one of whom exists at present, viz. — Mr.
Smyth of Methven, -who generally, I think, lives at his country
seat in Perthshire ; Sir "William Gibson Craig, who died lately, was
the other nominee of the Crown. Therefore, assuming that the
paid members are those who habitually attend, we find that the
Board of Supervision consists of the Chairman and the three sheriffs.
It is, however, well known that some of these members did not
attend frequently. I do not know what they do at present; I speak,
however, of very recent years. Now, although I always am pre-
pared to stand up for my profession, I certainly am not prepared
to hold that the supervision of public health matters in Scotland
should be entrusted to a committee of advocates. I don't think
that it can be said that that is a body which possesses the qualifica-
tions entitling it to deal with public health matters. Mr. Fraser,
who has made a study of the subject for many years, is certainly an
excellent member of the Board ; but suppose he ceases to be Sheriff
of Renfrewshire by being appointed a judge or otherwise, I am bound
to say that, with the exception of the Chairman, I don't believe
that there will be any member of the Board with what may be called
a skilled knowledge of the subject of public health. I consider
therefore that the constitution of the Board should be amended.
In the volume to which I have referred 1 arrived at the conclu-
sion, for reasons therein stated, that it was advisable that there
should be a public Minister of Health, as there is, you know, in
various countries in Europe. I cannot go at greater length into
this matter here, but I will read the alternative conclusions at
which I arrived.
(1.) I would prefer to see an Imperial Office of State instituted,
at the head of which would be the Minister of Public Health, and
tinder him in Scotland a resident and permanent Under-Secretary,
the Central Authority being the department of State.
(2.) If this is not carried out, I would like to see the English
Local Government Board changed into an imperial one, which, as
regards Scotland, might be done by the addition thereto of the
Lord Advocate and Solicitor-General, and another member, to be
styled Sanitary Inspector-General for Scotland, or some other name
of this description — this last-named official to be at the head of the
Scotch office. The Central Authority would then be the Imperial
Local Government Board.
(3.) If the Board of Supervision, however, is still to remain the
Central Authority, I submit that it is advisable that in addition to
its present ntmbem there shall be a medical gentleman of emi-
132 PAfc&pMttl &;<*'.:* •*/ Gi^/>:vr.
nence, whose presence at the meetings of the Board would be a
guarantee that the Board would have skilled assistance in dealing
with sanitary problems.
These propositions furnish matter for discussion and consideration.
I am quite open to the argument that the Board of Supervision is
necessarily required for the control of our poor law, and I don't see
myself any prospect of its assimilation with that of England : and
that being so, if it is thought necessary that the supervision of the
poor law and that of the public health should be entrusted to
one and the same bodv, as was the conclusion arrived at bv the
Koyal Commissioners of 1369-1 £70. quoad England, then I say that
there ought to be a medical man of eminence made one of the
permanent members of the Board, and paid at a salary commen-
surate with his eminence and the work expected of him.
2. With regard to urban sanitary authorities, a perusal of
the Report of the Sanitary Commission of 1670 shows, that
the Commissioners thought it impossible to have any other prin-
ciple applied than that of local self-government. Now, this
principle being given effect to, it is, I take it. out of the question
that to any other body in towns than the representatives of the
ratepayers, in the shape of their Town Councils and Police Com-
missioners, should be entrusted the local administration of public
health matters. In the large towns, so far as the law goes, I think
that this administration is well managed — e.g., take our city of
Glasgow. Although I believe that considerably greater powers
should be conferred upon the urban sanitary authorities, still, I
think the law, as it stands, is carried out as efficiently as can well
be done in the large towns, but in small towns (I won't, however,
draw invidious comparisons by mentioning names) the adminis-
tration of the public health provisions is very much a sham. Yon
know that in our Public Health Act of 1867 a great many of the
provisions are ex facie permissive. Of course there is an argument
that the word may, as used in certain Acts of Parliament, is to be
constructed as the compulsitor sliaU; at the same time, ex facie, most
of the provisions, or a great number of them at least, are permissive,
and I am sorry to say that a number of towns act upon that theory.
But, gentlemen, I admit that it is necessary that the urban
sanitary authorities of all towns should be the Town Councils and
Police Commissioners of the respective burghs, or committees ap-
pointed by them. Therefore, even in the small towns where there is
at present habitual neglect of the sanitary precautions and regula-
tions which might be taken, even under the defective provisions of
Mr. W. C. Spens on Public Health Legislation for Scotland. 133
the Public Health Act of 1867, I still think that their municipal
representatives must be retained as the Local Authority, but I
certainly think there ought to be very ample controlling powers
invested in a properly constituted Central Authority. Further on,
with reference to the executive machinery, I will have occasion to
point out the description of officials who should inspect, as officers
of the Central Authority ; and I advocate, besides having a system
of skilled local sanitary inspection, so that wherever it is discovered
on the part of the Central Authority that there has, for a certain
period, been an habitual disregard on the part of urban sanitary
authorities of their duties in the matter of public health, that it
should be in the power of the Central Authority to apply to the
Court of Session to appoint two commissioners, who for the period
of one year should be invested with the whole powers of the urban
sanitary authorities, and whose salaries, as fixed by the court, should
be defrayed by rates to be levied upon the town. I may refer to
what I have said in my book on this point under the head of the
Controlling Powers of the Central Authority. (See p. 120.)
Passing from that point you all will have observed the tendency
of small burghs to spring up around large towns, and more espe-
cially is that the case with regard to Glasgow. Availing themselves
of the General Police Act, we have on the confines of the city the
burghs of Hillhead, Maryhill, Govan, Partick, Crossbill, Kinning
Park, and Govanhill. Now, gentlemen, unquestionably these small
burghs all owe their existence, with perhaps the exception of
Partick and Maryhill, to Glasgow. They and their populations
are where they are simply because Glasgow is where it is. Apart
from all other considerations, and having regard to the subject of
public health alone, it seems to me eminently undesirable that a
large town should not be entitled to take within its own limits
those populations which spring up on its confines, and owe their
existence to the parent city. The Act of 1862, the Lindsay Act,
has been put, I imagine, to a use to which it was never intended to
be put.
Another matter with reference to dense populations is the sudden
springing up in mining or manufacturing districts of places which
are in all essentials towns. Let me instance the case of Blantyre, a
part whereof has, however, recently been created into a burgh. Some
four years ago, what is called High Blantyre was a country village
of the smallest dimensions, but now it is a large town of brick-
built cottages. That place has been allowed to be built without any
supervision whatever on the part of any authority with regard to
134 Philosophical Society of Glasgow.
the description of dwellings put up. There was no person to report
as to the structure or stability of the buildings; there was no
authority to control the way in which the streets were to be laid ;
there was no provision as to the conveniences required; no system
of drainage sanctioned by any authority. Now, gentlemen, this
was a matter which was considered by the Royal Commissioners of
1870, and they reported that " the Central Authority should have
power of imposing upon rural districts, or any parts thereof, at its
discretion after local inquiry, urban powers." (See Second Report,
vol. i., p. 25.)
I think it is absolutely necessary that there should be some
law conferring upon certain authorities the power of regulating the
growth of populations when these suddenly spring up. Indeed, I
may say one thing with regard to all houses : I think that no house
whatever, in town or country, should be allowed to be put up and
inhabited without some proper system of skilled inspection, both
as to structure and stability, and sanitary inspection as regards
drains and other matters requiring sanitary supervision in house-
holds. I may add that the stringent recommendations of the
Royal Commissioners were made law, and the annual reports of
the Local Government Board show that the Local Authorities in
England make frequent applications under the provisions dealing
with this matter, which to a greater or less extent are almost
invariably granted by the Central Authority.
3. I now pass on to what I consider the most crying necessity
for reform in our sanitary system : I refer to the present admin-
istration, or rather, I may say, non-administration, which obtains
with regard to the public health areas in rural districts. As I
already mentioned, and as you all know, the Local Authority of rural
districts — that is to say, every district which is not in the sense of
the Public Health Act an urban district — is vested in the Parochial
Boards of the parishes within which these are situated. The duties
of rural sanitary authorities in some cases may in certain matters
be more difficult to discharge than the duties imposed upon urban
sanitary authorities ; for instance, they may without urban powers
be required to watch over the public health of communities^which
are, in population and area, towns. As matter-of-fact, wherever that
has occurred there has been little if any attempt on the part of the
Parochial Boards to grapple with the sanitary difficulties which
confront them. Of course, as I admit, without having any urban
powers to administer the public health of urban populations it is a
subject of extreme difficulty, or rather impracticability; but I say
Mn. \V. C. Spens on I'ublic Health Legislation for Scotland. 13f>
this with regard to the matter, that in Scotland, where there has
been anything of the kind requiring really great attention on
the part of the Parochial Boards in the way of large centres of
population which exist in their parishes, there has not been any real
attempt to grapple with the sanitary problems which they are the
responsible authorities to deal with. Gentlemen, the question
which arises at the outset with regard to our present rural authori-
ties is whether these bodies are fitting, competent, and adequate
administrative bodies ? If this question fails to be answered in the
affirmative, then it is needless to make any further inquiry in the
matter, for I thoroughly agree with the principle of letting well
alone. To understand what is the constitution of the rural local
authorities, we require to revert to the Poor Law Act of 1845. As
you know, for some years there has been a Poor Law Amendment
Bill floating before Parliament, but which has never yet been
carried, and in it there are certain proposals with regard to an altera-
tion of the constitution of Parochial Boards, but the present consti-
tution of these is as follows : — The new Act (1845) provided a more
popular managing body, and a Parochial Board was established in
each parish, consisting of — first, in landward parishes, certain
members elected by the ratepayers, delegates chosen by the kirk-
session not exceeding six, and heritors holding real property of more
than £20 of annual value, and the provost and bailies of any royal
burgh in the parish, who as individuals are assessed for the poor.
Of this constitution it is right to explain (a.) that any agent or
mandatory holding legal authority can act for absent heritors, and
be a member of the board, and such mandate subsists till recalled —
a system of delegation which has given rise to great complaint ; (6.)
that the elected or ratepayers' members are proportionate to a scale
sliding with the population, whereby it is said that in small un-
populous parishes they are often in a great minority and powerless to
act ; and (c.)-that the electors and owners of less annual value than
£20 who have each one vote, and tenants and occupants, the number
of whose votes rises with the annual value of the subjects assessed on,
but limited in all to six votes ; and persons assessed both as owners
and occupiers vote in respect of each capacity."
It would appear that the modus operandi of election of the trifling
number of members who may be elected to each rural Parochial
Board is as follows : — Different parishes have different days of
election in each year, as fixed by the Board of Supervision. The
notice of the day of the election, and the requisition to the rate-
payers to elect, is given by affixing a document to the parish church
136 Philosophical Society of Glasgow,
door. In some places the inspectors of poor go about beating up
for people to attend the meetings for election, in order that there
may be a proposer and seconder, both being necessary to make
an election of each representative, the number of whom is fixed
by the Board of Supervision for each parish. If the proposer and
seconder are got, the nominees are probably the nominees of the
inspector of poor. If they are not obtained, the ratepayers' repre-
sentatives are simply not elected, with perhaps the same abortive
result on the following annual day of election. I refer to this with
the object of showing that there is no real interest in the election of
ratepayers' representatives, and for this reason, that they are a mere
fraction of the Parochial Board. I believe I am not far wrong in
saying that there is not one out of fifty of the rural parishes of
Scotland which really takes an interest in the subject of election.
While, gentlemen, I believe it to be the case that most of the
Parochial Boards in rural parishes discharge their poor law duties
in an apathetic and perfunctory manner, I think that there can be
little doubt that with regard to their public health duties many of
them fail to discharge any such duties at all, unless perhaps when
called upon by the Board of Supervision to do something through
attention having been called by the breaking out of epidemic disease,
or some other compulsitor. I believe I may lay down the following
propositions with regard to the rural local authorities of Scotland :
1. In a very large number of the parishes of Scotland there has been
complete neglect of sanitary administrative duties — in very few
indeed have these duties been zealously and properly discharged.
2. The physical area of a parish is in many cases too small to have
independent adequate machinery for sanitary requirements. 3. The
mental area of a parish (if I may so express my meaning) is often too
circumscribed for a fitting selection of guardians of public health.
With reference to this last proposition, I may say that while the
selection is circumscribed, not only by an actual paucity of men
fitted to discharge the duties, it is further circumscribed from the
fact that local men dislike incurring personal local unpopularity by
properly discharging the duties of public health guardians — a proper
discharge of such duties, I may explain, infers not only a certain
amount of taxation, but also a certain amount of interference, which
is resented. 4. In many parishes there is no attendance at meetings
of the Parochial Board qua Local Authority of gentlemen of educa-
tion, position, and influence, resulting in the proceedings being re-
garded by the community in some cases with well founded, and in
some cases with ill founded, suspicion, mistrust, and dislike. The
Mr. W. C. Spens on Public Health Legislation for Scotland. 137
result of attendance at such meetings being confined to local busy-
bodies and nobodies is to lead to a mistrust on the part of the com-
munity of the Board which permits their affairs to be managed by
such persons. Even however good the intention of such persons
might be, their actings will in no case be satisfactory to the com-
munity, and I fear that sometimes, when local health administration
has got into the hands of one or two individuals of the above
description, matters have been meddled with in such a way as enor-
mously to increase the prejudice against sanitary interference. I
believe it has even happened that private animosities have been
gratified by prosecutions directed against individuals for matters
which may possibly fall under the description of nuisances in the
Public Health Act, but which still are mere gnats as compared
with camels in the great abuses that are allowed to flourish
unchecked.
In the Report of the Commission of 1870 we find that the unani-
mous opinion is arrived at by the Commissioners that it was unsafe
to entrust the administration of local health matters to any unit so
small as a parish, and very much for the reasons I have assigned.
But, gentlemen, I don't think that any of you who have looked
into the subject can have any doubt that what is required with
reference to a rural local authority is that the duties shall be
entrusted to a small but practical board of men selected from a very
much larger area than that of a parish. Having arrived at the
conclusion that rural local authorities, as at present constituted, are
incompetent and utterly unfitted for a proper discharge of the work
which is delegated to them, even under our present Public Health
Act, and therefore a fortiori less fitted for the discharge of increased
duties under an amending Public Health Act, it is, I think, clear
that some scheme should be adopted to provide another description
of authority. The scheme which I venture to submit to you is one
deduced to a certain extent from the English system ; but time will
not permit me to detail the English system, and I must therefore
refer those of you interested in the subject to the fifth chapter of the
volume previously adverted to. I think that Poor Law Boards
should be selected wholly from the ratepayers on the principles laid
down in the English law. These are, that every owner of property
and ratepayer shall have respectively the same number and propor-
tion of votes according to the scale following, viz : — One vote for any
sum less than £50 for rateable value, two votes for any sum above
£50 but under £100, and so on to six votes, when the rateable
value amounts to or exceeds £250. What I would propose, then, is
138 Philosoylucal Sockty of Glasgow.
that as regards Poor Law Boards a certain number of members
should be fixed by the Board of Supervision, in no parish, however,
exceeding a certain number, say eight or ten. Should this alteration,
however, as to the constitution of Parochial Boards not be carried
out, it will not effect to any material extent the scheme which I
venture to submit with reference to public health rural authorities.
I suggest that the Central Sanitary Authority should have the
compulsory power of uniting parishes in public health districts, and
that the boards of health should be the aggregate of delegates chosen
by the individual parochial boards of such public health districts,
the number of such delegates for each parish to be fixed by the
Central Authority, but not to exceed a certain number, say three
in every parish, — the larger parishes having the full number, three,
the middle-sized parishes two, and all the smaller parishes a single
delegate only. If the constitution of Poor Law Boards is not
changed, then, although these Boards retain their present large and
vague form, I would still suggest that from that large body should
be selected the same limited number as I suggested should be
chosen from the Poor Law Boards, if limited to a smaller number.
While I propose that the Central Authority should merely have
power to unite parishes in public health districts, not that it should
be compulsory on them to unite, I assume that this would be done
generally throughout Scotland. I am by no means convinced of the
advisability of there being a general scheme of union of parishes for
poor law purposes, but this is a matter which I don't pretend to
have investigated. It would not do, I think, to make it compulsory
on the Central Authority to include all the parishes of Scotland in
public health districts, for it is obvious that sparsely populated
Highland parishes do not require sanitary supervision in the same
senso as the more populous parishes of the Lowlands of Scotland.
I would therefore be contented to leave to individual Parochial
Boards, if amended as I propose, the care of the public health
administration of such parishes as the Central Authority shall not
think fit to make part of a public health district. The English
rural local authorities are the unions of parishes ; and into the con-
stitution of these I cannot enter here, but it is given in detail in the
volume referred to. These unions I believe to be too large,
surveyed from a public health point of view, while there has been
no thought of drainage, water-shed, &c, in their formation, and
therefore if it was made law that there should be a compulsory
uniting of parishes for public health districts, I take it that the
Central Authority would need to make special inquiry into drainage,
Mr. W. C. Spens on Public Health Legislation fur Scotland 1,'ii)
water supply capacity, and other things which had not been
regarded in the formation of districts of union in England. Of course
it is natural enough that it should not have been regarded when the
formation of these unions had in England sole reference to poor law
purposes, and when their possible extension into public health
districts was not contemplated. Such, gentlemen, is necessarily a
brief sketch of the proposals which I make with regard to an alter-
ation of the constitution of our rural health authorities.
4. The next point which I submit for consideration is the neces-
sity for some amendment and enlargement of the executive machin-
ery for public health purposes. I have previously stated that the
Central Authority would require to have very large controlling
powers, and not only should there be controlling powers, but I
submit there should be a system of central inspection to discover
that the law is really being put into force. At present, gentlemen,
the officers of the Central Authority, confined to public health
duties alone, consist of a single individual, Dr. Littlejohn, the
Medical Officer of Health of Edinburgh, who was (after a large
amount of correspondence, the salient points of which will be
found set forth in the sixth chapter of the volume I have referred
to) appointed the medical officer of the Central Authority at the
huge salary of £200 per annum. He is appointed upon the under-
standing that for that salary he shall undertake all investigations
within a day's journey of Edinburgh, instead of within ten miles, as
originally proposed. Now, gentlemen, I think that it would bo
well that a distinguished practical medical man should be appointed
as Sanitary Inspector-General of Scotland, who should be at the head
of all the sanitary inspectors and medical officers in Scotland ; and
from both medical officers and sanitary inspectors I think it should
be required that there should be periodical reports of the state of
the districts, and the. work performed therein ; as also that books
should be regularly kept, distinctly detailing their work and the
inspections made, and that such reports should be transmitted to
the sanitary inspector-general, who should make an annual investi-
gation of their books. I see no objection to a medical gentleman
of eminence being at once a member of the Board and conducting
special sanitary investigations, and I would propose that the official
suggested should be a member of the Central Sanitary Authority.
Under the sanitary inspector-general there should be central sani-
tary inspectors. At present the general superintendence of poor
is intrusted to certain officers called visiting officers, who have
certain duties conferred upon them with reference to sanitary
140 Philosophical Society of Glasgow.
investigations, but the latter are made altogether subsidiary to their
poor law duties. The directions to these officers by the Board of
Supervision will be found set forth in an instructional letter issued
by the Board of Supervision on 31st May, 1869. This letter says, —
" The Board do not wish you at present to make such regular and
minute inspections of your district with reference to its sanitary
condition as would seriously interfere with your ordinary duties as
general superintendent of poor ; but when you visit a parish in the
course of your duties as a poor law officer, you will take the oppor-
tunity of inquiring how far the enactments of the Public Health
Act are complied with ; and whenever you find any failure on the
part of the Local Authority you will report the same to the Board."
Of late years visiting officers have frequently been despatched by
the Board on special missions of inspection. Under the Act, as at
present, it does not seem to me that there is any power conferred
upon such officers as against the public. For instance, such inspect-
ing officers have no powers conferred upon them to insist on admit-
tance for the purpose of making sanitary investigation. If the more
definite sanitary inspection and supervision over local sanitary in-
spectors, which I have indicated as a proper subject for legislation,
and into the details of which I will immediately enter, be made
part of our public health law, then 1 think it is necessary that the
Central Authority should have a special staff of central sanitary
inspectors, whose powers, if not their duties also, should be defined
by statute.
Passing, however, from the officers of the Central Authority, I
now come to those of the Local Authorities. In England there is
a medical officer of health in every district — that is to say, that in
every district there is skilled sanitary supervision over the public
health. In Scotland, on the other hand, while it is true that the
Board of Supervision arrived at the conclusion in August, 1871,
that all Local Authorities having within their jurisdiction a town
or village population of 2,000 or upwards should bo required to
appoint a sanitary inspector, which resolution has, I believe, gen-
erally, though not universally, been carried out — still there is no
compulsory medical supervision appointed under the Public Health
Act. It is quite true that under the existing Public Health Act
the Board of Supervision could insist on the appointment of a
medical officer of health in all districts, but that has not been done
to almost any extent whatever. As I said, however, in most of the
populous rural districts of Scotland there is a sanitary inspector.
What qualifications are required with reference to a sanitary
Mr. W. C. Spens on Publk Health Legislation for Scotland. 141
inspector, and what amount of remuneration is afforded to him for
the discharge of his duties? I think I am not wrong in answering
the question of who are the sanitary inspectors of Scotland? by
saying that, except in large towns, I believe the answer with truth
to be, Any person, scavenger, small grocer, labourer, policeman, who
could be got at the smallest possible salary. The salaries must be
"proper salaries" under the Act, but what are proper salaries? "We
have the following note by Mr. Monro to his annotated edition of
the Public Health Act: — "The salaries must be in amount 'com-
mensurate with a diligent and efficient discharge of the respective
duties (medical officer and sanitary inspector). The Board has dis-
approved of a salary of £5 for sanitary inspector, and called on a
Local Authority to increase it — a salary of one guinea to the sani-
tary inspector insufficient." Although the Board may in some
cases have disapproved of salaries of £5, as indicated, there are
many sanitary inspectors in Scotland paid at that rate, and I think
I am not wrong in stating that the majority of sanitary inspectors
in Scotland have not larger salaries than £15 per annum. I don't
know that I would be wrong if I substituted £10 for £15. On the
28th July, 1873, a note was transmitted to the Local Authorities
containing bye-laws recommended by the Board of Supervision for
the regulation of the duties of sanitary inspectors. Under the
Public Health Act bye-laws with regard to these duties required
to be submitted to the Board of Supervision, and accordingly the
letter transmitting these stated, — "In the event of these or similar
bye-laws being adopted by the Local Authority, you are required
to transmit them for the approval of the Board." In other words,
the bye-laws must be proposed by the Local Authority, and not
by the Central Authority. I think it would be better if the bye-
laws were promulgated by the Central Authority. These bye-laws
are lengthy, and therefore I do not propose to quote them here.
They will be found in the Annual Report of the Board of Supervision
for the Year 1873, and their substance will also be found at page 76
of my volume. I approve of these bye-laws ; but I should doubt if
more than half-a-dozen rural authorities have homologated them.
It would indeed be absurd to expect that men sufficiently educated
for the purpose could make systematic inspection of their districts
and keep daily records thereof for a bagatelle of £5, or even £10
per annum. Local Authorities would not accordingly issue such
bye-laws, as had they done so they would have required to increase
the salaries, if the men were competent to keep records; nor would
they adopt them if the sanitary inspectors were not qualified for
142 Philosophical Society of Glasgow.
such a task, as is the case, I believe, in the majority of districts,
because then they would have required to have got new sanitary
inspectors at higher salaries. In England the system is that one
medical officer of health is allocated to each public health district,
and salaries of £800 to £1,000, with allowances for offices, are by
no means an unusual thing for large districts. The health officers
in England of those districts are medical officers of health and
inspectors of nuisances; but, as I said, in very few Scotch rural
districts are there any medical officers. The scheme which I sub-
mitted in the volume previously referred to was that there should
be a system of skilled sanitary inspection ; that the qualifications
for the office of sanitary inspector should be raised and tested; that
sanitary inspectors should hold no other appointment except certain
other appointments in direct connection with the office; that
they should be paid with salaries commensurate with their train-
ing and work, say in no case less than £150 per annum ; and that
their duties should be made more definite and extensive. As re-
gards medical officers, I submitted that in every parish, being part
of the public health district, as proposed to be altered, the poor law
medical officer should be the officer of health, paid a certain definite
salary, but certainly not less than £50 per annum. In England,
you will observe, the system is to have a skilled medical man at a
large salary, assisted by an entirely unskilled man, whose sole duty
is the inspection of nuisances. I am inclined to think that it
would be better to have a system of skilled sanitary inspection with
a definite medical officer of every parish, whom it should be the
duty of such skilled sanitary inspector to call on in every case in
his (the doctor s) parish where the sanitary inspector thought it
necessary, but this is a matter for consideration. Perhaps the gentle-
men present may be of opinion that our system should be put upon
precisely the same footing as that of England, having a skilled medi-
cal man to deal with the whole subject of the public health of the
district, and that the sanitary inspector should merely act very much
as an inspector of nuisances ; but whatever be the conclusion arrived
at, I submit that the duties of sanitary inspectors and medical
officers of health should be made distinct and imperative, and that
those officials shall be paid salaries commensurate with the work
expected of them ; and further, that they should be subject to the
supervision and control of the sanitary inspector-general, or some
such official as the one I have suggested, who should be at the head
of all these officials in Scotland.
5. With reference to the subject matter of the law, as time is bo
Mr. W. C. Spens on Public Health Legislation for Scotland. 1 i:>
short, I will only deal at any length with three points under this
division of my subject. In the first place, the law requires amend-
ment with regard to overcrowding; the inspection of dwelling-
houses with reference to sanitary requirements ; as to intimation of
infectious disease ; provisions to prevent the evasion of the Vaccina-
tion Act; and provisions to render it in the power of sanitary
authorities to insist upon the separation of contagious and infectious-
disease. I think also there should be a general power for sanitary
inspectors to appear in courts of haw, where, for instance, risk to-
the public in the matter of public health is involved. (I may just
explain here, with reference to this proposal, that in the Hamilton
district, where I acted as Sheriff for some time, I had upon one occa-
sion no less than a thousand applications before me to eject miners
from their houses in one week. Now, there can be no question
that there is a great risk to the public health in the ejection of
such a large number of persons as this implies. It may be con-
sidered that it would be wrong to allow interference on the part of
sanitary authorities with regard to the right of a landlord to put
out a tenant, unless there is actually infectious disease among the
inmates of the houses ; but I submit, that at all events, wherever
there is any risk of an epidemic being spread among the public by
such an ejection, that the sanitary inspectors should have power to*
interfere and oppose, at least to the effect of getting precautions
taken to prevent outbreaks of disease.) Then, I think, that it
should be made definitely part of a sanitary inspector's duty to see
to the disinfection of houses, clothing, <kc, after outbreaks of infec-
tious disease. I am also of opinion that there ought to be definite
duties intrusted to duly qualified sanitary inspectors with reference
to the adulteration of food. I think also the legislature should
interfere to prevent the sale of newly distilled spirits containing
above a certain percentage of fusil oil, and if possible to secure a
pure milk supply. The last named subject is sufficiently before
the public of Glasgow at present, without requiring any remarks of
mine upon it here.
And now, gentlemen, I bring these remarks to a conclusion —
dealing as I have done with various branches of a large subject in a
limited space of time, they are necessarily very sketchy and im-
perfect ; but still, for the purpose of discussion and consideration,
perhaps they bring out the salient weaknesses of our existing sani-
tary system, and various defects in the subject matter of the law.
144 Philosophical Society of Glasgow.
Discussion on Mr. Spens* Paper.
Mr. J. Cleland Burns corroborated the statements made by
Sheriff Spens with respect to the sanitary condition of Hamilton
and its neighbourhood. He also expressed his entire concurrence
in Mie views advocated in the paper as to the relation that should
exist, for sanitary purposes, between a large city like Glasgow and
its suburban burghs.
Mr. John Honeyman drew attention to the action at present
being taken by the Institute of British Architects, as well as by
local societies, in favour of a general Building Act applicable both
in town and country, and suggested that this Society might use-
fully co-operate in that matter.
Dr. J. B. Russell welcomed the paper that had been read as an
expression of the enlightened public opinion which was to deter-
mine the direction of sanitary legislation. They were all too
familiar with the defects under which Scotland laboured in sani-
tary matters, and he had nothing but admiration to express for
the thoroughly practical grasp which Sheriff Spens had taken of
the subject. He referred to the inferences drawn in a paper read
by himself before the Society in an earlier part of the session, with
regard to the comparative healthfulness of urban and rural districts
in Scotland, and pointed out that the accounts given by Sheriff
Spens of the defective sanitary organisation in the latter accounted
for their comparatively high death-rate. According to recent sta-
tistics, the sanitary condition of England appeared to be improving,
while that of Scotland appeared to be retrograding, and this he was
inclined to attribute to the superior organisation of sanitary matters
in England (Health of England Act).
Dr. Christie expressed entire concurrence in the views of Sheriff
Spens and other speakers as to the necessity for a comprehensive
Health Act for Scotland.
Mr. Mayer, in view of the probable extension of household
suffrage to counties, asked how the learned Sheriff proposed to
elect the Board to be intrusted with the administration of the Act
he had suggested.
Sheriff Spens, in reply, said that until household suffrage had
been extended to counties he could not answer the question.
Mr. Joseph Whitley on tJie Specific Gravities of Metals. 14 5
XIV. — Experiments on the Relative Sjxcific Gravities of Solid and
Melted Metals, <bc, at the Temperature of Fusion. By Joseph
Whitley, Esq. — Communicated by Dr. Henry Muirhead.
[Read before the Society, April 17, 1878.]
Abstract.
This communication contained the substance of experiments made
at the request of Dr. Muirhead by Joseph Whitley, Esq., of Leeds,
at first upon the relative specific gravities of solid and melted
metals at the temperature of fusion, and subsequently upon the
specific gravities of other substances. Dr. Muirhead was led to
have these experiments instituted by the speculations of Sir
William Thomson, upon the internal structure of the earth, as set
forth more especially in his presidential address to the Geological
Society of Glasgow in February last.
The following quotations from two letters from Mr. Whitley
to Dr. Muirhead, and dated respectively March 30 and April 11,
1878, convey the experimental results obtained : —
"Leeds, March 30, 1878.
" I have carefully gone over the experiments on the melting of
metals in contact with liquid metals. I was certain on this point,
from more than half a century's observation, before you wrote me,
and I think I indicated that conclusion in a former letter. I have
now only to indicate the order in which I conducted the experiments,
the results of which I now communicate.
" With several different compounds of brass, at various tempera-
tures, I melted similar compounds. Skimming the metal in the
crucible, I laid the solid piece carefully on the clean surface,
which piece, coating itself partially by chilling the liquid metal,
very soon re-absorbed a sufficient amount of heat to be fused, and
fusing from the bottom side gradually dissolved. I then placed
similar blocks of metal endwise on, when dipping beneath the
surface they bounded back to the surface, and subsequently dis-
solved endway down. These results apply to various weights and
sorts of compounds.
" I then conducted similar experiments with cast iron, and found
that the facts were still more conspicuous in the cast iron (all of
Vol. XI.— No. 1. l
146 Philosophical S*x'uly »f Gla*joir.
the same tendency} than in brass. Placing the iron on the surface
of the liquid iron, a rapid chill set in, and a coating of iron, appar-
ently about one-eighth inch thick, attached itself to the cold metal,
but very shortly re-melted, when the cold iron disappeared with it.
I then dropped a small piece of cold iron (the same being dried to
prevent explosion) endwise on to the surface of the liquid metal,
when bounding back to the surface it melted in that position.
" The statement applies precisely to the experiments conducted
in lead.
"In all cases the cold metals were relieved of any exterior
ingredient by being well tiled over. In every case of brass and
iron, the material melted was about one inch in diameter and four
inches long, each piece being round. With regard to the lead,
the pieces varied in size, weight, and form, but all the experiments
resulted in the same wav.
" I am, Dear Sir,
" Yours very respectfully,
"JOSEPH WHITLEY.
" P.S. — Pure copper and soft iron float also, — as ice does."
" Railway Works,
"Leeds, llfA April, 1878.
" My dear Dr. Muirhead,
" Confirming my letter of yesterday, I have now to
report the results of several experiments which you will see perfectly
coincide with and demonstrate the truth I have again and again
assured you of — viz., that all liquid matters that are susceptible of
solidification will, when solid, float upon similar matter when in a
liquid state.
" I intimated to you in my last that I feared I could not in a small
crucible sufficiently flux granite and whinstone, and in my experi-
ments of yesterday, although I melted my crucible, I did not
sufficiently liquefy the granite so as to float a piece upon the melted
mass. I therefore deferred further manipulations till to-day, and
having secured a quantity of whinstone I also determined to alter
my course, and to take the advantage of a much larger focus of heat
than that of a furnace 30" x 20" x 20" with a 60 lb. crucible. So 1
called upon Messrs. Taylor Bros. <fc Co., Ironmasters, of this town,
and with their permission I proceeded as follows : —
" Being passed over by their manager to a subordinate officer, a
worthy and very intelligent fellow, and, by the way, a strong
Mr. Joseph Whitley on tlie Specific Gravities of Metals. 147
believer in the doctrine that matter sinks in like matter when
melted, we went to a furnace where we had three tests with
whinstone, which he said disappeared ; and I believe that he was
justified in the two first experiments, because he was not sufficiently
up in his observations so as to notice a stream of gas liberated from
a bubble in the surface by the melting of the whinstone just under
it (the surface). In the next furnace we went to we had a large
quantity of liquid cinder * tapped out ' of a furnace into a trough.
I really wish you could have seen it. To me the sight was grand ;
the gases given off by the melting of the whinstone blazed with a
sort of blending of tints of purple, yellow, and green. I never saw
anything so fine in flame. The whinstone was like a thing of life,
so buoyant. Of course, the specific gravities of the liquid and solid
materials varied considerably, and hence the buoyancy of the whin-
stone. We then tried a large number of small pieces of cinder
same as the liquid mass before us; but my friend, the officer, insisted
that they went to the bottom ; they certainly, except in one instance,
never returned to the surface, because they liquefied before they had
time to rise. My whinstone being done, and seeing that the results
were not so satisfactory to my friend, I remarked that I was
prepared to go all day and all night rather than give up the task of
convincing him that his conclusions were wrong. I therefore
suggested we should take a larger furnace, and deal with larger
masses. We therefore, instead of dealing with quantities of 8 oz.
weight and weights of 1 lb., took pieces of 5 lbs. and 6 lbs. weight each
of solid cinder (a specimen* of which I send you .... this
day). Had my faith not been implicit, I might have been deceived; .
for Nos. 1, 2, and 3 pieces went to the bottom, and my friend said,
'Now, are you satisfied?' and I replied, 'No, lam not.' Imagine
his astonishment when No. 1 came bounding to the surface, and
floated about like a cork; when the mass of heat had dissolved the
coating which it clothed itself in at entering the bath, and began to
melt the original piece ; up came No. 2, and I let him float them
about on the surface with an iron rabble, so as to sear, as it
were, the lesson sufficiently deep into his soul that it might never
be erased. . . .
"Trusting I have fully complied with your request, and that-
the whole of my simple tests are sufficiently clear, ....
"I am, my Dear Doctor,
" Yours respectfully,
"JOSEPH WHITLEY.'*
• Exhibited to the members at the Meeting.
148 Philosophical Society of UUi&jow.
Dr. Muirhead added the following remarks : —
It is quite unnecessary for me to eulogise Mr. Whitley's energy
and acumen; his works speak for themselves, and, as you cannot
fail to observe, do not lend support to } Sir William Thomson's
hypothesis of a honeycombed skeleton of the earth interiorly,
formed by sinking fragments of cooled crust These experiments by
Mr. Whitley, and his remarks on crystalline substances, offer an
appropriate opportunity for a few words which were embodied in my
paper on Energy, but deleted from the paper, being too lengthy.*
I look upon water as commencing to freeze when cooled below
4° C, holding that then invisible crystals (crystalleited) begin to
form in the liquid, because then crystal lie action (the mode of action
concerned in the formation of crystals), being no longer dominated
and held in abeyance by thermic action, takes the initiative, so that
free crystallettes continue to be formed till, on the reduction of
thermic action by the cooling of the liquid to 0° Centigrade, they
coalesce to form ice on the least external disturbance pushing them
into contact, otherwise they are apt to remain discrete.
I should say also, that even on the withdrawal of heat crystal-
lettes cannot form if the water be prevented from expanding, as, for
example, when it is enclosed in strong metallic vessels, and these
are chilled down. The vessels, it seems to me, are not burst by
the freezing water, but mainly because the water refusing to
contract, the vessels rend in consequence of their own contraction
around the unyielding substance; and then the intensely cooled
water shoots out through the rent, freezing instantaneously on
being relieved from compression.
The click and sudden expansion observed to take place in some
red-hot metallic wires when cooled to a certain critical point, I also
attribute to crystallic action then assuming predominating influence
on the withdrawal of heat. In fact, that all substances capable of
crystallising do so less or more according to circumstances, on
sufficient reduction of thermic action, because crystallic action
being then no longer overpowered is free to compel molecules to
obey its behests. In fine, that all these substances on cooling
contract, until they arrive at the crystallising point, when they
behave as water does — t. e., increase in bulk ; so that water forms
no exception to the general law. These views, supported by Mr.
Whitley's experiments, afford, I think, a plausible explanation of
the mode in which basaltic columns are formed, taking Giant's
Causeway as a typical example. The mass of liquid lava as it cools
* See page 110, voL X. of Proceedings,
Mr. Joseph Whitley on the Specific Gravities of Metals. 149
slowly shrinks into roundish subangular portions at the surface, and
continues the process interiorly, the individual columns separating
from each other in consequence of the contraction. In each of the
columns, however, when sufficiently cool, crystallic action comes
into operation, and separates some eight, ten, or more inches of
the cooler tops from the hotter portions of the columns below.
And as the cooling process proceeds inwards, other layers are
checked off successively in the same manner. As to the angularity
of the columns themselves, we may suppose it induced thus : The
layers or cheeses, on crystallising, expand against their roundish
neighbours, flattening each other, and squeezing into the open
spaces left unoccupied by the cooling columns, which we have seen
shrink as they cool until crystallic action sets in to swell them
again. Possibly the sharpness of outline of cast-iron castings has
its genesis at the crystallising period, after which shrinking again
occurs.
I would ask geologists, who are also chemists, to give considera-
tion to the question, How far has crystalline action been concerned
in the upheaval of porphyritic or granitic mountain masses, such as
Goat Fell and Ben Nevis ? Professor James Thomson has repeat-
edly called attention to work done by crystallising water in
elevating ice and earth. I have myself observed pavement slabs
upheaved by the action of frost.
It may be thought that my views on the bursting of chilled
cannon balls and the unequal upheaval of portions of the earth's
surface are eminently conflicting. If, however, we reflect on the
many successive expansions and contractions the latter is subjected
to from alternations of seasons, <fcc., we may perhaps see a way out
of the difficulty. But the subject is too large for entering on at
present.
130 Philosophical &--iV/y of Glasgow.
XV. — Notes on Some of the Testing Ojxrations involved in carrying
out the Provisions of tlte Alkali Acts 1863 and 1874.
By James Mactear, F.C.S., F.I.C.
[Read before the Chemical Section of the Society. April 22, 1878.]
Previous to the passing of the Alkali Act of 1863, the examination
of the gases passing away from chemical works generally was a
subject about which but little information was to be had even by
those few who were eager to obtain it, and in connection with
which but little accurate work had "been done. The obtainment of
such figures as would serve to show whether or no the requirements
of the Act of 1863 were being complied with, caused the introduc-
tion of various methods of examination of the escaping vapours and
gases, devised both by ELM. Inspectors and the manufacturers.
These methods, accurate enough, perhaps, for the comparatively
simple requirements of the 1863 Act, were found sadly wanting in
many respects on the introduction of the much more stringent enact-
ments of the Act of 1874.
The 1863 Act dealt only with the evolution of hydrochloric acid,
and defined an alkali work to be one in which common salt was de-
composed with sulphuric acid, the acid gases evolved in this operation
only being under surveillance. The Act of 1874 very properly
amended to some extent this condition of things, and brought under
the cognisance of the Inspector of Alkali Works the escape of all
noxious vapours ; but from some cause quite inexplicable, so far as
has yet been seen, this inspection has still been limited to alkali
works as defined by the previous Act, with the exception that
muriate of potash is looked on as salt, and works in which it is
decomposed with sulphuric acid are included in the list of alkali
works. Why an alkali work should be "cribbed, cabined, and
confined" as regards its evolution of gases, whilst works which
manufacture sulphuric acid for sale or for manure-making, and
which in most cases allow much more escape of acid and other gases
in proportion than do alkali works, should not be under any form of
control, is, I think, a most scandalous condition of things. I know,
Mr. James Mactear on Alkali Testing Operations. 151
for instance, of a case where a manufacturer whose salt decomposi-
tion was small, but whose escape of gases from his vitriol plant was
excessive, actually preferred to cease decomposing salt, so that he
might have his name removed from the inspector's roll, and be at
liberty to send forth an unchecked amount of sulphuric acid, and in
this case the inspector is powerless under the present Acts. The
investigations of the recent Royal Commission will, I fully believe,
amend this position of affairs, and allow the " saddle to be put on
the right horse." In many cases an alkali manufacturer is blamed
for nuisance which is actually caused by other works around him,
which, free from inspection, send out many times the amount of
acid gases that would be allowed if they were under the same
control as the alkali manufacturer.
In addition to acid works properly so called, the gases evolved
from glassworks and potteries ought to be considered. Where, for
instance, sulphate of soda is used in the manufacture of glass, the
following figures represent the conditions that obtain : —
An alkali maker produces, let us assume, 100 tons of sulphate
of soda, and in doing this he allows the escape of, at the utmost,
say 3 tons of acid vapours (both hydrochloric and sulphuric
acids).
A glassmaker uses 100 tons sulphate of soda, and in converting
it into glass sends out all the sulphuric acid which the alkali
manufacturer has so carefully substituted for the hydrochloric
acid of the original salt, amounting to 67*5 tons of sulphuric acid,
calculated as oil of vitriol, tJie wlwle of which is allowed to pass into
the air, and which is evolved in a considerably shorter period of time
than was required to manufacture the sulphate of soda originally.
This is a matter not understood clearly by the general public,
and consequently they blame those whom they imagine must be the
cause of the nuisance of escaping gases, in many cases with but
Httle reason.
The notes I purpose bringing before you refer to the various test-
ing operations which we now employ in checking and estimating the
escape of the various gases in alkali works, and they are of course
applicable in many other directions. The subject has been a
favourite line of study to me since 1866, and is so still, and many
of the methods and apparatus which I have proposed are now
extensively used in connection with such testing operations.
The problem which is put before us is how to estimate the
amount of the various gases classed as noxious vapours escaping
from the various operations of an alkali work.
152 Philosojthiral Socittt/ of Glasgow.
These gases may be classed under three heads, —
a. The escape of acid gases from the apparatus employed in
the manufacture of oil of vitriol.
These gases may be looked on as simply sulphuric and
nitrous acids.
b. The escape of acid gases in the conversion of common salt,
by its decomposition with sulphuric acid, into sulphate of
soda and hydrochloric acid.
In this case the gas may be looked on as simply hydro-
chloric acid.
c. The escape of acid gases from the combustion of coal in the
various operations of the works.
And the testing operations involved in the examination of the
escaping gases may be also classified into —
A. — The estimation of the amount of noxious gas in a given
}K>rtion of the gases escaping from the works, and the methods and
.'ipparatus employed for this purpose.
B. — The methods of obtaining the actual amount of the noxious-
gases escaping in weight or percentage volume.
A. — The practice formerly was to aspirate comparatively
rapidly a fraction of a cubic foot from a flue or chimney,
and this plan is still used to a considerable extent for
rapid work where approximate results are sufficient, the
gases being drawn through an alkaline solution, and the
amount estimated by precipitation or titration in the
usual way. I long ago pointed out the fallacious nature
of the results obtained in this way as a basis of calculation
of escapes, and devised various methods of aspirating and
measuring much larger amounts of the gases, and extend-
ing the operation over much longer periods of time, so
that average results might be obtained. I had made
many attempts to apply to the measurement of the gases-
aspirated from a flue or chimney a meter such as is used
in checking the consumption of coal gas; but it was not
till early in 1873 that I succeeded in completing an
arrangement for this purpose, which has proved itself of
very great service, both to myself and others, in the ex-
amination of noxious vapours and the estimation of
impurities in the air.
Tho apparatus is very simple, and is shown in the following
drawing.
Mr. James Mactear on Alkali Testing Operations. 15:.;
Mactear's Self-Registering Apparatus for Testing
Flue Gases.
A. Bunsen's vacuum pump.
B. Water pipe to do.
C. Discharge pipe from do.
D. Pipe to absorbing apparatus.
E. Trap to collect gases passing through pump.
F. Overflow pipe for water from pump.
G. Pipe for conveying gascB to meter.
H. Ordinary vet gas meter.
I. Absorbing tubes.
J. Pipe into flue.
K. Flue from chambers.
H Escape pipe from meter into the atmosphere.
Meter and absorbing apparatus in locked cupboards with glass fronts.
For the sake of description, it may be considered in three portions :
1. Absorbing Apparatus.
2. Aspirating „
3. Measuring „
1. Absorbing Apparatus. — The form of absorbing apparatus which
may be used will vary with the requirements of the gases
to be estimated, the simple form shown at I in drawing,
of tubes and a wash bottle, suiting very well indeed for such
estimations as those required in estimating the escape of
HC1 or S03.
2. Aspirating Apparatus. — This is simply a Bunsen water-pump,
A, arranged as a trompe\ The pump sucks or aspirates the
gases through the absorbers, and then the air and water are
caught in a separating vessel, £, where the water escapes by
the pipe, F, while the air or gases pass on to the —
3. Measuring Apparatus. — This being a carefully constructed gas
meter, such as is used in photometric determinations, and
154
Philosophical Society rf Glasgow.
with the index arranged to read to the one-hundredth part
of a cube foot.
The speed of the current of gas can be regulated to a
nicety by altering the supply of water, a very convenient
amount for chimney testing being about one cubic foot per
hour.
The absorbing solutions through which the gases have been
drawn have of course to be tested, which is done by the usual
methods, and the figures thus found are calculated out on whatever
basis may be preferred. I myself prefer, in most cases, that of
average of grains per cubic foot, and an aspiration of from twelve
hours to one week, according to circumstances and the gas to be
estimated.
Table I.
Testings for SrEED of W. H. Chimney, 2S0 feet in height Readings taken
30 feet from base, at eight points of its circumference, and at each
G inches of radius.
■
Cubic
1 — ! East.
N'.E North.
X.W. West.
s.w.
South. S.E.
Arerage
Are* of
Feet per
i
i
1*27
i
1*27 3*5
Speed.
Bings.
! 25*92
Second.
: i
3*72
3-72 3 83
•9 i 2 38
2*47
64*022
4-03
451 451
3 38: 1*27
127
239 4*04
315
! 24*35
76 702
3 . 3-49
433 571
3*25 180
313
2*39 4*86
3*62
| 22-77
82-427
4 2 85
433 006
3-25 1*27
2 39
35 451
3*52
21-21
74*659
: 5
3*25
3 72 5 34
2 39. 127
2 39
313 4*69
3*27
19*63
64190
G
3-25
285 5-56
2*85 *9
2-39
3*5 4*51
3*22
, 18*07
58185
7 j 253
2-02 451
2*71 : 156
2 39
2*02 3*72
2*68
1 16*49
44193
8 '2-2
1-28 4<H
0*00 000
2*39
2*02 2*55
1*81
1 14 92
27-005
9
2-2
0*00 372
21)2 156
1*56
2 02 2*85
1-99
13*36
26*586
10
1 27
0-00 2*02
2 39 ' 0*00
2 02
0*00 255
1*28
11*78
15078
11
000
156 2-02
1-28 0-00
1*28
1*56 2 39
1 1*26
10*21
12*864
12
o-oo
300 285
•9 0 00
1*28
0*00 2*39
! 1*3
8-64
11*232
13
2-55
1-28 12 02
1-28 | 0*00
1*81
0 00 2 39
j 1 41
7-07
9*968
14
•9
1 -28 ' 202
0*00 0(K)
■9
2*02 239
1 119
5 49
6-533
15 1*27
1-28 2 02
■9 000
1-28
2*02 2*02
1*35
3-93
5-305
16 000
"9 , 1-27
000 0*00
2 02
1*56 202
•97
2-36
2*289
17 -
— '2-85
i
0*00 0*00
— .2-85
1
•71
•78
•554
1
i
226*98
581*792
i
i
i
i
Aver
i
age .
2*574
Area of rings, 6 inches broad x average speed of ring, -j- total
area = average speed of chimney.
Correction for tcmp.:-465° F. 581*792 x -7494 = 435-996 *
2*574 x -7494 = l-9289.t
• Total cube feet discharged per second,
f Lineal feet per second = average speed.
Mr. James Mactear on Alkali Testing Operations. 155
B. — To obtain the actual amount of escape in weight or per-
centage of the gases escaping in flues or chimneys, we
must determine the total amount of gases passing in a
given time; and this is a most difficult, if not an im-
possible thing to do with accuracy. None of the formulas
for the calculation give results that can be relied on for
our purpose, however useful they may be in calculating
the capacity for work of a given chimney.
Mr. Fletcher's form of anemometer gives good results ;
but as it only indicates the speed of the one little spot
where the tubes are, it requires an enormous amount of
labour to determine by it the speed of gases in a chimney.
The assumption that the average speed is at one-third of
the radius (as indicated by Peclet in his Traits de la
Chaleur) is not supported by the figures obtained in
practice, as will be seen from the annexed tables.
Table II.
{Extracted from the Eleventh Annual Report of tJte Inspector under
the Alkali Acts, 1863 and 1874.)
44 Chimney Tested by Dr. Hobson, 10 feet in diameter, tested inwards each
44 6 inches. It is not corrected for temperature, it is given as a proof of
" a very uniform velocity."
i"
Inches.
Velocity
lu Feet.
N.
Velocity
in Feet.
8.
Averajro
Velocity.
3- •
4-71
429
3 41
3 58
3 68
3 56
3 84
3 65
3 53
3*53
Diameter.
Area.
Area
by
Velocity.
3,300
9,598
7,775
5,396
4,859
4,159
3t221
2,607
1,650
801-3
99-4
0
6
12
18
24
30
j 36
42
48
54
60
7-222
6189
4*604
4-777
4-514
4-423
4423
3 935
3 935
3612
2212
2-389
2-212
2-389
2-855
2-709
3-255
3-378
3127
3 497
120-114
114-102
102— 90
90- 78
7.S— 66
66- 54
54— 42
42— 30
30— 18
18— 6
6— 0
1,100
2,038
1,812
1,582
1,357
1,130
905
679
452
227
28
Total area, 120
> inches dial
neter,
11,310
43,466
43,466 Q .
J-at(. = 3-84 average speed.
1 l,olu
* The first line of figures shows an average speed of 3 feet per second. There
is no trace of how this figure was obtained, although all the other tests are
given.
IV*
m*.-s*:.\'..u Sx\tfv cf GIoswk.
The >ariations, a* *i*l be seen, are very considerable, and the
i\\Uo\th\< uWo illustrate* i«o effect on the usual method of exami-
nation of the \ariaiior. in speed of the chimney referred to in
IW.e 11 , as»nnnr.£ Out in *ac!h cubic foot of chimney gases there
wiv contained the amount of HC1 allowed by the Act of 1874,
<m\uO Jo - of a £V*lft.
7*rir 111.
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Mr. James Mactear on Alkali Testing Operations. 157
The accuracy of the arrangement for aspirating and measuring
the gases which I have described is shown by the following figures,
the difference between the test obtained by it and a series of half-
hourly tests being only '002.
Table V.
F Chimney— HC1 in Escaping Gases.
Half-Hourly Tests, taken in same way as Regular Tent.
Gre. HOI
per O. Ft
Ore. HOI
per C. Ft
9.0 a.m.
2*4 in. x 400 = 9G0 cubic in. contents
03
•054
•J. nHf ) f
5*4 ,, x ,
, =2160 „
•07
05C
10.0 „
2-8 ,
, x ,
, = H20 „
04
•061
10.30 „
32 ,
.i * ,
, =■ 1280 „
•04
•054
11.0 „
4-0 ,
» x ,
, =1600
•04
•043
11.30 „
3-9 ,
» * I
, = 1560
•05
055
12.0 noon
40 ,
» x ,
, = 1600
07
•075
12.30 p.m.
3-5 ,
n X ,
, =1400 „
065
•080
10 „
4*0 ,
„ x ,
, = 1600 „
•08
•086
1.30 „
4-5
>i x ,
, =1800 ,,
•1
•096
2.0 ,f
38 ,
„ x ,
, = 1520 „
•12
136
2.30 „
4-8 ,
.i x ,
, = 1920 ,,
•1
•090
3.0 „
3-4 ,
>. x ,
, - 1360 „
•07
•089
0O75
Continuous test by meter from 9.5 a.m. till 3.5 p.m..
* •
0-073
Regular test, taken at 9 a. m., 2*6 cube feet,
.... ..
• •
0054
The calculation of the amount of gases passing from the amount
of oxygen found in them is one of the best and easiest methods for
practical purposes; and I have here a piece of apparatus which is
used for the purpose of estimating the oxygen in flue or other gases.
Shortly stated, it consists of a measuring tube and an absorber; the
gas to be tested is measured in the tube (which is graduated to
show per cent, direct), and passed into the absorber; then, after
absorption, again passed into the measuring tube, and the loss in
bulk read off The apparatus of Orsat is constructed on this system
(first described by Schloesing and Holland), which is now exten-
sively employed for the analysis of products of combustion, an
elaborate series of analyses having been made by its means, of the
gases of combustion from various classes of fuel in locomotives, the
158 Philosophical Society of Glasgow.
whole operation being conducted in the van attached to the engine.
The COg, CO and O unconsumed are all estimated with great
rapidity, and its use is likely, in many cases, to lead to a consider-
able economy of coal.
The plan of obtaining the speeds of a flue or chimney proposed
by my friend Mr. Kuhlmann of Lille, of using coloured vapours, such
as N204, or those of bromine or iodine, has given very good results,
but is apt to give the speed a little too high, as the gases thus used
rush along in the quickest part of the current, and do not give the
average.
The escape of hydrochloric acid has been so much reduced that
in all well regulated works it does not call for much anxiety, the
amount of *2 of a grain per cube foot being very small indeed: but
it is different with the escapes of acid gases from the apparatus used
in the manufacture of sulphuric acid. It is a disgraceful fact that
it is no uncommon thing for some of the manufacturers of sulphuric
acid to have an amount of escape equal to one-tenth of the acid which
their consumpt of sulphur should yield, and even as much as one-
fourth has been escaping in some cases. This is due chiefly to the
want of theoretical knowledge on the part of the manager or
foreman, and will no doubt quickly disappear when such works come
under inspection.
The escape of sulphuric gases, calculated as oil of vitriol, at the
various works under my management, has been very low indeed.
At St. Rollox for the last year the average loss (which is tested and
calculated for each set of chambers every day) is only about n^
of the sulphuric acid produced.
The method of testing and calculating is, although apparently
complicated, really very simple. It is fully described in a paper which
I communicated to the Newcastle Chemical Society, and of which
there is a copy in the Philosophical Society's library.
The principle is that of calculating from the oxygen found in
the escaping gases from the vitriol chambers the amount of gases
passing, and the quantity of pyrites or of sulphur burned being
known, the loss of HgSO^ is easily calculated as per cent, on the
sulphur bought or burned, as may be most suitable.
I prefer to lay down each day the loss in diagrammatic form,
such as I have here, each diagram being for one month, and showing
in lines the loss expressed in inches. This brings home to even
the most illiterate of chamber foremen the result of their opera-
tions.
Mr. James Magtear on Allah Testing Operations. 159
This method of testing has been very widely adopted along with
my meter arrangement, and has everywhere given the most satisfac-
tory results. I do not believe it is possible, without such a check
as this system of testing affords, to prevent considerable losses
taking place, as I have found that even when chambers were in
very good condition, as judged by the ordinary methods of inspection,
considerable escapes of both nitrous and sulphurous gases have
been taking place.
The nitrous compounds escaping from vitriol chambers are not
worth calling a nuisance in most cases, although they are a cause
of great loss to the manufacturer, and they should always be esti-
mated, as the saving in nitrate of soda will far more than counter-
balance the cost of testing.
The best method for the estimation is, in my opinion, that of
determining the nitrous compounds, as ammonia, by the distillation
process with caustic soda (or potash), zinc, and iron.
I have here the apparatus we employ, and I can recommend the
process as being most accurate when carefully used; and as no
process can be expected to give good results unless carefully used,
nothing more can be required of it.
The difference between good results and bad, in the working of
vitriol chambers, so far as nitrate of soda is concerned, may be as
say 3*5 to 7, or more; and this being an important element in the
cost of manufacture, the necessity of keeping the consumpt at the
lowest point possible is self-evident.
As regards the sulphuric acid gases evolved from the combustion
of coal, the table on next page will be interesting.
It is usual to take 1-30 cube feet per lb. of coal as the amount of
air passing through a furnace, and required for the actual combus-
tion, while the excess air is often assumed at the same figure, so
that the total bulk is equal to 300 cube feet. This is, however,
under the mark considerably in the case of the furnaces employed
in chemical works; and we may take 400 cube feet as the amount
in general in such furnaces of good construction. This, at an
average of 1*50 per cent, of sulphur in the coal, would be equal to>
*655 grains S03 per cubic foot, assuming the bulk of escaping gases
to be that of the air employed in the combustion.
The public do not seem to be aware of the magnitude of the
evolution of sulphur gases from the combustion of coal. If we
assume that the inhabitants of Glasgow consume on an average 1 £
tons of coal per annum, and that the population of the city and
1G0
Philosophical Society of Glasgow.
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Mr. James Thomson on a New Genus of Rugose Corals. 161
suburbs is about 670,000, this would give, with coal at 1 per cent,
of sulphur, over 30,000 tons of oil of vitriol poured into the
atmosphere from household fires alone. In the case of London, the
coal consumed is about 8,000,000 tons; and calculated in the same
way, this would give 245,000 tons of oil of vitriol, quantities before
which the amount of noxious vapours evolved from well-conducted
chemical works "pale their ineffectual fires."
XVI. — On a New Genus of Rugose Corals from the Carboniferous
Limestone of Scotland; with a short sketch of the various methods
by which it has been attempted, during the last twenty years, to
delineate the internal structure of Fossil Corals of that Geological
Period. By Mr. James Thomson, F.G.S., Corresponding
Member of the Royal Society of Sciences of Liege, and
Honorary Member of the Royal Ducal Society of Jena.
[Read before the Society, May 1, 1878.]
Introduction.
I have long been persuaded of the desirability of an improved
method for the delineation of structural details in all cases in which
internal structure is of essential importance for the proper identi-
fication of genera or species. More especially is this necessary for
the palaeontologist when investigating such organic remains as the
fossil corals of the carboniferous period. I am well aware that in
the works of De Koninck, Milne-Edwards, J. Haime, and others,
external forms have been faithfully and, in many cases, beautifully
delineated, and also that in many instances the details of internal
structure have been fairly represented; but when many such
delicate and intricate structures as are found amongst the car-
Vou XI.— No. 1. m
162 Philosophical Society of Glasgow.
boniferous corals have to be exhibited, the ordinary methods
of delineation fall far short of the mark. In many of these
corals, indeed, the details are so minute that the ordinary
methods in . use for the illustration of palteontological works-
would either absolutely fail, or would involve a great expense.
I may refer, by way of corroboration of this statement, to-
Fig. 1, Plate I., which exhibits the internal structure of the
type species of the genus which is the subject of the present
communication, and which is so minute in its details that it
cannot be defined at all, except by the aid of a lens of consider-
able magnifying power.
During the twenty years I have laboured upon the classification
of the carboniferous corals, I have accordingly sought to attain to-
a simple, accurate, and comparatively inexpensive method whereby
even the most complicated internal structure of that class of fossils,
may be delineated upon paper, and so readily brought under the
cognisance of palaeontologists. The illustrations which accompany
this communication will, I trust, be accepted as a proof that my
efforts in this direction have at length been rewarded with success -T
and if it appear that this success has been somewhat tardily
achieved, I may perhaps be allowed to remark that my studies
have been pursued amidst great difficulties, and only during the
leisure hours of an active business life, during which I have also*
had to collect my own fossil specimens, and to prepare, in most
cases, sections of them with my own hands. I may also add, as
showing the amount of material now in my possession for use in
the classification of the carboniferous corals, that during the course
of my studies I have either prepared or have superintended the
preparation of more than eleven thousand sections of corals. Many
of these sections have been found to be valueless, in consequence of
imperfect fossilisation ; but from amongst them I have been able to>
select and classify upwards of four thousand five hundred speci-
mens, [many of which, however, are so related to each other as
to be fairly classed as "varieties." In no case have I based a
specific difference on anything short of a well-marked difference
in structure.
In my first attempts to procure imprints of the sections of corals
I consulted the late Dr. John Taylor, Professor of Natural Philo-
sophy in the Andersonian University, Glasgow, who suggested to
me the use of photography, and I accordingly had a number of the
most promising specimens photographed. In consequence, how-
Mil. James Thomson on a New Genus of Rugose Corals. 163
ever, of the specimens being opaque, the results were not at all
satisfactory.
I then selected some of the most perfect specimens, and having
cut thin slices off them, about one -eighth of an inch thick, which I
attached to small blocks of glass, I produced semi-transparent
sections by grinding. These I transferred to plates of patent plate-
glass, and exposed to sunlight upon sheets of sensitised paper in a
photographer's printing-frame. The results were quite satisfactory
so far as the accurate representation of structure was concerned,
but the method was, nevertheless, open to at least two fatal
objections. In the first place, the labour and expense of preparing
the transparent sections was greater than I could afford to incur ;
and, in the second place, the sections were liable to change their
colour when exposed to light
This process having afforded correct representations of structure
I was, however, slow to abandon it, notwithstanding the great
labour involved in the preparation of the thin sections referred
to, and I modified it in so far that I first took photographs of
the thin sections by transmitted light, and then produced prints
from these in the usual way. The results were, as before, satis-
factory with regard to accuracy of delineation, but they were not
permanent.
Another modification consisted in photographing the thin sec-
tions, and then printing by the " Carbon Process." I was pleased
to find that the results were in every way satisfactory, and that
the only serious objection then remaining lay in the excessive
labour required for the preparation of the sections. I also
found subsequently that the "Autotype Process" was not in-
ferior to the " Carbon Process " in the fidelity and permanency of
its results.
Satisfied at length, after much labour, that no process could
well be considered practicable which involved the preparation of
transparent sections, I experimented with ordinary sections, the
polished faces of which I etched with dilute acids, in the hope that
I should thereby remove the calcareous matter constituting the
" intercellular spaces," and have the siliceous matter constituting
the " walls of the corallum " left standing in relief I hoped to
prepare in this simple way a plate from which impressions in wax
or other suitable material might be taken, and which could there-
fore be reproduced to any extent by the ordinary method of
electrotyping. The results, however, did not correspond with my
hopes, and the action of the acid was very far from producing the
it 4 *«...-. -.ii ^»:t.:i ' *j.±>? .■>-.
^rp disdz^.z: rtf-w-ff s. - iz.-erce-ll'ilar spices " and " walls
of ti* MnLl^zL" .a wii.-l I iai .salcslated. I had failed to
apt r=c2*te tie x^zirf£r:cL5 irr^ri^ariii'e* that occur in the process
of f:«s£lis»s£»:=.
To tie *iz^e A:ise was also «e lie £iil^re of my next attempt
-o obsaiz. izirressiris iz> wax &*■ #ye«roryT«e purposes. In this
case I ac^jit to cccair a scr^e rcesentirLi: the structural details
of lie ecral iz> relief by piesocrariLLZi: a section of it with
bzcirociate of pxasi ar.i felatLze.
It wotili be tedLvis to eji^iziersse the various other unsuccessful
attempt I n^ade in lie war of cbcairiz.^ casts fitted for the
accurate repr>i;iction of strccrcral details : bet I may say. generally,
that these attempts were very n-xsierocLS. that they occupied a large
portion of ciy leisure time &*• several years, and that they involved
a very considerable amount of expense. Oat of these laborious
attempts, however, there tnally emerged the process which I now
employ, and lor wiici I i\.*ici the merit of being applicable to
the accurate delineation o: the minutest details of coralline
structure, and of K*ing comparatively inexpensive. This pro-
cess I have now used for some years for the production of
lithographic plates, and quite recently I have succeeded in
modifying it so as to produce electrotypes for use in the ordi-
nary printing press.
Of the nrst form of this process. I may say that it consists in
taking an impression of the structure upon a sensitised copper
plate, that this impression is then engraved upon the plate, and
that a transfer is thence taken and put upon a lithographic stone.
Of the second form of it. I may say that an impression is taken
upon a plate of sensitised copper, that the plate is next engraved
and etched very slowly, but somewhat more deeply than in
the first case, that a cast in wax is taken from the plate, and
that from this again is produced an electrotype in the ordinary
way.*
The fact that the process which I have now so far described is
applicable not merely to the delineation of structures presented
in my own favourite pursuits, but also to the delineation of the
minute structures which present themselves to the anatomist, the
physiologist, the pathologist, the botanist, and many others, is, I
* I beg to offer my cordial thanks to Mr. W. C. Roberts, F.R.S., of the Royal
Mint, London, to Mr. James Napier, BothweU, and to Mr. Thomas Smith,
Hectroplater, Glasgow, for their valuable assistance in matters connected with
Mr. James Thomson m a New Genus of Jiugme Corah. 165
conceive, one of its chief merits. The full development of the
process, and_its application to all the uses of which it is capable,
can, of course, never come from me. I can only hope to pat on
record by means of it the structural details of as many of the
carboniferous corals as my circumstances will permit; but I may be
also allowed to cherish tbe hope that science generally will yet derive
profit from my labours, in tbe way of devising a process which
makes it possible to disseminate, at comparatively slight expense,
among investigators accurate delineations of the minute structures
that concern them.
Genus Albebtia. Thomson. Sp. no v.
Generic C/taraelers. — Corallum simple, cylindro-conical, curved,
and tall ; epitheca thin, with minute, crennlate, encircling lines,
and irregular ambulations of growth ; calice circular, nhnllow, and
in some forms everted, exhibiting in the centre of its floor a series
of irregular ridges, which more or less converge inwards and
downwards from the inner margin of the primary septa to near
the centre of the calice. There is a depressed space in the centre,
formed by concave tabulm, which in a transverse section are seen to
form tbe walls of the depression, concavity outwards and down-
wards. The septa are thin, and of two orders; the primary never
extend farther inwards than to the outer margin of the central area,
and exhibit laminae for about half their length from the inner .
margin, while towards the periphery they are thin and flexuous.
Ififi I'Uilmphical Society of Glasgmr.
TIl(> secondary septa aro minute and hardly recognisable; they
nra united by interseptal dissepiments, which are sparse near the
inner margin of the primary septa, and abundant in the external
area, whom they form a dense vesicular tissue. The fossula is
usually small, but well marked.
longitudinal section triareal, central area composed of thin dis-
continuous coliitnellartan lines, and each is united by concave
tabu Isi, Tito inter media to area (" interlocular area ") is composed
of aw\i'\ tabula*, eotivnwity upwards, and which unite the inner
olid* 01 0»» primacy nepta. The outer are* ("interseptal area")
u HtH'iipiwI by a swtw of more or less irregular lenticular con-
vex eelU, ts«v«iljf upwards and inwards, and arranged in oblique
Two (seiiim •'•■^-'*>A *bt«"h 1 now propose to establish, is for the
mvptiou of * larjpc jjroup of «\>ral* presenting a combination of
ptmiwleni tU*U».!*.i different ftotu any of the existing genera. It
iwaj , li«* 0\ or, fce regarded as in some report* intermediate between
(Wjfouu* A t#*.i*sn\}£*iM and the genu* »'j*fc!ii.-ji*j*Ara.* and as
«*Uihi(w^»mu*iure»»hioai*lo*rfy link ii tosh* gvnus Auk-ply!]**.
iij|»lh»wt K. IV UssUuv*) rf S» O.W* for t*jty«Mr-C-
Mn. James Thomson oh a New Genus of Rugose Corals. 167
As regards its relationships, it may be distinguished by characters
of a fundamental nature.
Firstly , — The corallum in Albertia, like that of Aspidiophyllutu
and Cymatiophyllum, is triareal in composition. Indeed, there is a
striking similarity in the external and intermediate areas in the
three groups. The chief characters which distinguish Albertia are the
form and arrangement of the lamellae or ridges in the central area,
which are slightly raised above the inner margin of the primary
septa, and in outline are more or less round, and formed by convex
plates, the convexities being parallel to the plane of the ridges.
The ridges converge inwards and downwards, but stop short of the
centre, and are attached to the outer margin of the depression, or
shallow cup, in the centre of the floor of the calice.
The walls of the central depression are formed of concave tabula?,
which converge inwards and downwards, the centre of which, in a
longitudinal section, is seen to consist of minute transverse tabula*
(PL III., Fig. 3a). The structural details, as exhibited in the
central area of the corallum, are, I believe, sufficient to warrant us
in separating Albertia from the genus Aspidiophyllum. In the
latter, the boss in the centre of the calice is helmet-shaped in
outline, and dome-shaped on the ventral or concave side of the
corallum, and slopes down on the dorsal or convex side to the
inner margin of the primary septa. The free edges of the vertical
lamellae of the central area appear on the crown of the boss as so
many keeled ridges, and the median ridge passes over the boss and
descends into the fossula on the dorsal side of the corallum, forming
a more or less continuous median line.
Secondly, — The genus A Ibertia agrees with CymatiopJiylkim in the
triareal arrangement of the structure, and, as I believe that it is
the central area alone where true generic distinction exists, the
only point which I deem it necessary to notice is the central area,
which in CymatiophyUum is slightly raised above the inner margin
of the primary septa, and is formed of vertical lamellae, the superior
-extremity of which appears as wavy ridges, and which pass from
the inner margin of the primary septa to the centre of the floor of
the calice, the cut edges of the vertical lamellae appearing in trans-
verse sections, as so many waving or bending lines, which pass from
the margin of the central area to its centre. On the other hand,
in Albertia the ridges that are seen in the central area fall short
of the centre or floor of the calice, and the centre of the shallow
cup or depression is closed in with minute tabulae, a feature which
Also characterises the genus Aulophyllum.
Turu^ — Titer? 3&Za mnr sj i« mnsiiiiirei the genus Aulo-
p&yuifTi* zl r«scecr: :c wirirh iliif juIj p«:o^ wiiri calls for special
rennizk is lii* L*ur*»aiRi;a n liiu aaur* :t lilt* ojue.
Fimr^'^ — Lx li* r*ms J.tiupk.jiZvam zh& -astcre of the corallum
is -iscMttsiced. &ai£ iae per^oerr is iraueti .;£ miixte and closely
iraypi laaueZje. wi vn pass HLfcrpiy Lrwxwaris* and are attached
to lie <2abo^e. wn :i:a 5:cm ia«* ix:r :c u« central area. The
sipeior -txsrwniry :c Hist .tciZth jfisejiis ix oinZme the form of a
dc<L2u£ cup* a v»*ry Tmurk-Ki iiai^Tircitra. As En -i3*r*iia. the calices
are shallow an»i ai>:c» :c jvsb *T>*rtotL and lib* superior extremities
of the T^rscal lameil* are cccscnnzcast. raiad in outline, and
It will ul-zs us speared zhaz tae grcop fccms a natural and
distinct 2?e.:x&» selocginx so wnSat I sl&t sat t&ere are some of the
tallest and does ei*££an? t":r3LJ th&s have v« come under mv
observation- See PL L. Fir*, t i Ll» I mar add. however,
that betbre essabLishinx «n:-> new z^n*. I telt the desirability
of submitting ty^* specim-ens to two eminent palaeontologists,
on~ C:nunen^al. and the ocher British, who. after a careful
evarr. > .td^n of th^se and of types of all the existing genera, and
also, indeed, of ochrrs which I hope soon to consider, separated
this group as being distinct and easily recognisable bj its structural
details. At the same time. I am convinced that, when the investi-
gation of carboniferous corals is more matured, it will be imperative
to classify many species as varieties.* It will probably be found
also that there are transitions between genera that at present are
regarded as closely allied. Indeed there appears in many of the
groups to be so natural and intimate a relation that it will be diffi-
cult to define the transitions even between one genus and that of
another. But for the present it is necessary that certain closely
related forms should be grouped into families and genera ; and
the group which forms the subject of the present communication
has been selected from amongst fifty or sixty type specimens which
form natural and central links in a connected series, and which may
be regarded as centres from which the group diverges in different
directions.
Albertia Victoria Regis. T/tomson. Sp. no v.
Plate L, Figs. 1 and 1a, and Plate II., Fig. 1.
Specific Characters. — Coral lum simple, cylindro-conical, curved,
* In my own cabinet there are no fewer than twelve hundred varieties.
Mr. James Thomson on a New Genus of Rugose Corals. 16 9-
and tall; epitheca thin, with crenulate encircling striae, and irregular
annotations of growth; calice absent, transverse section semicircular.
The septa are numerous and delicate, and lamellar for two-thirds of
their length from the inner margin; in the outer area they are thin
and slightly flexuous. There are eighty-six primary, and an equal
number of secondary septa, the latter being minute and hardly recog-
nisable in the dense vesicular tissue that they intersect, and each is
united by irregular lenticular interseptal dissepiments. The central
area is circular, and five lines in diameter, and in a transverse section
exhibits the cut ends of the vertical lamellae, which pass inwards to
near the centre, at which they fall short, and are attached to the*
outer margin of the depression that occupies the centre of the calice,
and are seen in the longitudinal section to be intersected by the cut
edges of the tabulae. The longitudinal section is triareal; in the
central area there are thin discontinuous columellarian lines, and
each is united by concave tabulae. The intermediate (*' interlobular")
area is closed in by convex tabulae. The outer ("interseptal")
area is broad, and occupied by lenticular irregular convex cells,
convexity upwards and inwards, and arranged in oblique rows.
The fossula is large, and there are three of the primary septa, which
fall short of the others, and pass into it; and in the centre there is an
unequal bipartite plate in it, which forms the floor of the fossula,
and a portion of the structure of the central area passes into it.
There is a double or false fossula, and three of the primary septa
fall shorter than the others in it.
Height of corallum, unknown, it being imperfect. Specimen,
5 inches in length. Diameter of section, 2 inches at the
broadest.
Formation and Locality. — Found in a bed of shale that overlies
the lowest bed of Scottish carboniferous limestone in Langside
Quarry, Beith, Ayrshire.
The structure of this grand specimen is unique, and I humbly
beg to dedicate the type in honour of Her Most Gracious Majesty
Queen Victoria.
Albertia Argylli. Thomson. Sp. nov.
Plate I., Fig. 2.
Specific Characters. — Corallum imperfect; epitheca thin, and
marked with deep irregular annulations of growth; calice shallow
and flat, in the centre there are irregular lamellar ridges. The septa
rise at an acute angle to the termination of the interlocular area;
17'J Fhll'jvJi'hUtil Society of GUugwr.
there they become much everted, and descend down to the periphery.
There are seventy-four primary septa, which are strong and lamellar
for about two-thirds of their inner ends; in the outer area they
become delicate and flexuous. These alternate with an equal
number of minute indistinct secondary septa, and the individuality
of each is so much interfered with bv the dense vesicular tissue
that their continuity is almost lost The interseptal dissepiments
are dense in the median zone, and become more or less lenticular
and less dense as they approach the periphery. Two of the primary
septa fall shorter than the others on the opposite side of the
coral lum from the fossula, and the space (or " interlocular area") is
occupied with minute ovular bodies.* The central area is seven
linos in diameter. The transverse section exhibits the cut
ends of the vertical lamellae, and the central depression is broad.
The fossula is deep and well defined, and one of the primary
septa extends about three-fourths of the length of the others
into it.
Height of coral lum, at present unknown, the specimen being im-
perfect. Diameter of transverse section, fully 2 inches.
Forrnution ami Locality. — Found in a bed of shale that overlies
the lowest bed of carboniferous limestone in Langside Quarry,
Be itl j, Ayrshire.
I have great pleasure in dedicating this elegant species to his
<;r:ico the Duke of Argyll, K.C.B., F.R.S., Ac.
Albcrtia Lindstrbmi. Tliomson. Sp. nov.
Plate L, Fig. 3.
Specific CJuiracters — Corallum cylindro-conical and curved; epi-
1 heca thin. The exterior margin of the septa is visible from without
through the thin cpithecal covering, and there are shallow annulations
of growth. Calico circular, shallow, and everted. The central
* 1 referred to the presence of similar bodies in my paper on the genus Aapidio-
phyllum, in the Proceedings of Uie Philosophical Society of Glasgow, VoL IX.,
p. lift. I have since discovered similar ovular bodies in five or six specimens.
In all, the septa fall short of the others, and the ovular bodies are always found
in the interlocular area. In the paper above-mentioned I suggested that
these bodies resemble fossil ova, on opinion that has been considered probable
l>y several of our eminent physiologists, both in this and in other countries.
The structure is suggestive, and worthy of careful observation.
Mr. James Thomson on a New Genus of llugose Corals. 171
projects^ nearly half an inch,* and the depression in the centre is
small and diamond-shaped. The septa are lamellar for half their
length from the inner margin. In the outer zone they are delicate
and flexuous. There are sixty-two primary, alternating with an
equal number of minute secondary septa. Each is laterally united
by angular interseptal dissepiments. Central area circular, and
eight lines broad. A transverse section exposes the cut edges of
twelve lamellae. The fossula is small, and contains a single short
primary septum in it.
Height of corallum, imperfect, a portion of the inferior extremity
being wanting ; length of specimen, 2 J inches ; diameter of calice,
2 inches.
Formation and Locality. — Found in a band of shale that overlies
the lowest bed of carboniferous limestone in Langside Quarry,
Beith, Ayrshire.
This species is distinguished from the preceding by the smaller
central area, the smaller number of the vertical lamellae, and the
number of septa is less proportionally, and the vesicular tissue is
less dense. I have much pleasure in dedicating this species to
Professor G. Lindstrom, the distinguished Swedish palaeontologist.
Albertia vesiculatus. Thomson. Sp. nov.
Plate L, Fig. 4.
Specific Characters. — Corallum imperfect; epitheca thin, and
marked with annulations of growth ; calice circular, shallow, and
much everted ; the septa are stout, and in transverse section are
lamellar for a third of their length from the inner margin, when they
then become more or less vesicular. There are sixty primary and
an equal number of minute secondary septa, and each is laterally
united by numerous angular interseptal dissepiments. The central
area is sub-elliptical, and is ten lines at the broadest and qight lines
at the narrowest, and exhibits the cut edges of the lamellae, and the
depression in the centre extends down into the fossula. The fossula
is small, and one of the primary septa, half the length of the others,
extends into it ; and on the opposite side of the corallum there is
* It is noteworthy that in this species the central area projects nearly half
an inch above the floor of the calice, an abnormal condition which I have not
fonod in any other species belonging to this genus. In another group I have
found the central area projecting frequently, but only in specimens from one
locality.
172 Philosophical Society of Glasgow.
a false * fossula, which contains a single septum shorter than the
others.
Height of coraHum, (imperfect), specimen 1 inch long ; diameter
of section, 1 inch 9 lines.
Formation and Locality. — Found at Peter's Hill, Bathgate, and at
Langside, Beith, Ayrshire, in a band of shale that overlies the
lowest bed of carboniferous limestone in Scotland.
This species is distinguished from the preceding by the vesicular
structure of the septa, which in the exterior, or face of the calice, are
mammillated and stout.
Albertia irregularus. T/wmson. Sp. nov.
Plate IIL, Fig. 1.
Specific Characters. — Corallum simple, incomplete, the portion that
we possess indicates that it was cylindro-conical and curved ; epitheca
thin, with fine encircling strife, and irregular accretions of growth ;
calice circular, shallow, with irregular lamellar ridges, which con-
verge inwards for a short distance, leaving a broad central depres-
sion, in the centre of which there is a small, slightly raised ovular
prominence. The primary septa are lamellar for two-thirds of
their length from their inner margins. Tn the outer third they
become delicate and flexuous; in the inner (interlocular space) they
are united by remote delicate transverse dissepiments, and in the
outer area the dissepiments are numerous and angular. There are
seventy primary, alternating with an equal number of secondary
septa, which are almost lost in the dense exterior zone of vesicular
tissue. Fossula small, and contains a single primary septum of
shorter length than the others.
Height of corallum (imperfect), 2 inches; diameter of calice, 1 inch
11 lines.
Formation and Locality. — Found in a bed of shale that overlies
the lowest bed of carboniferous limestone, Langside Quarry, Beith,
Ayrshire.
This species is distinguished from the preceding by the greater
number of lamellae, their irregular arrangement, and their shorter
length, necessarily leaving a broader depression in the centre of
the calicular cavity.
" In the absence of accurate knowledge as to the true character of the fossula,
I call this double fossula "false" provisionally.
Mr. James Thomson on a Neiv Genus of Bugose Corals. 173
Albertia depressa. Thomson, Sp. nov.
Plate III., Fig. 2.
Specific Characters, — Corallum simple, cylindro-conical, and
curved ; epitheca thin. The exterior margin of the septa is visible
from without through the thin epithecal covering, and there are
encircling lines and broad shallow annulations of growth ; the calice
is moderately deep and everted, and the central depression is broad
and deep, and there is a deep, hollow opening into the fossula.
There are sixty-six primary septa, alternating with an equal
number of minute secondary septa, which are united in the outer
zone by sparse and angular interseptal dissepiments. In the inter-
mediate zone the dissepiments are angular and numerous, while at
the inner margins ("interlocular area") they are scarce and rect-
angular. The central area is seven lines broad, and the lamellae are
short, and the central depression is broad and occupied by the
cut edges of the concave tabulae, a portion of which converges into
the septal fossula. The fossula is small, and contains a single
primary septum, half the length of the others, in it.
Height of corallum, 4£ inches ; diameter of calice, 1 inch 7 lines.
Formation and Locality. — Found in a band of shale that overlies
the lowest post of carboniferous limestone in Langside Quarry,
Beith, Ayrshire.
This is distinguished from all the other species of the genus in
the form of the central area. The depression in the centre is much
deeper, and opens into the fossula; and the lamellae are short, and
proportionately are fewer in number, and the interseptal dissepi-
ments are scarce in the outer zone, and exhibit less cellular tissue.
Albertia intermedium. Thomson. Sp. nov.
Plate III., Fig. 3 and 3a.
Specific Characters. — Corallum simple, cylindro-conical, tall, and
curved; the epitheca is thin, and there are delicate encircling lines, and
broad irregular annulations of growth ; calice awanting; transverse sec-
tion circular. The primary septa are lamellar for nearly two-thirds
of their length from the inner margin, and in the outer area they are
thin, and more or less flexuous. There are seventy-two primary
septa, alternating with an equal number of secondary septa; the
latter pass inwards from the periphery for a line and a half, and
174 Philosophical Society of Glasgow.
are attached to the primary septa at their inner ends. In the outer
zone the interseptal spaces are occupied by scarce and moderately
angular dissepiments, while in the intermediate area they become
numerous, and in the inner (" interlobular ") area they are few in
number and rectangular. The central area is seven lines broad,
and exhibits the cut edges of nine vertical lamellae, which never
reach the centre, and occupy two-thirds of the central area. The
septal fossula is narrow, and a single primary septum, three-fourth a
of the length of the others, passes into it.
The longitudinal section is triareal, and the vertical lamellae are
seen to stop short of the centre of the corallum. The centre is
occupied with slightly concave tabulae. In the intermediate ("inter-
locular ") area there are convex tabulae, the convexity being upwards
and outwards. The outer ("interseptal") area is broad, and ex-
hibits numerous irregular lenticular convex cellular tissue, the con-
yexity being upwards and inwards, and arranged in oblique rows.
Height of corallum, 4 J inches ; diameter of transverse section, 1
inch and 10 lines.
Formation and Locality. — Found in a bed of shale that overlies
the lowest post of carboniferous limestone in Langside Quarry,
Beith, Ayrshire.
This species is closely allied to Albertia depressa. It, however,
differs in the form and arrangement of the lamellae in the central
area, and in the proportionately greater number of septa. This species
I have selected to show the transitionary tendency of this group to pass
into Cymatiophyttvm, from which it is distinguished in the structure
of the central area. Its structural character, however, clearly links
it with the genus Albertia.
Albertia Oweni. Thomson. Sp. nov.
Plate ni., Fig. 4.
Specific Characters. — Corallum cylindro-conical, and moderately
tall ; epitheca thin, with encircling striae and irregular annulations of
growth ; the calice is shallow, and the lamellar ridges rise slightly
near the outer margin, and then descend into the centre of the
central area. Near the inner margin the primary septa bend
sharply downwards into the central area, and become everted
towards the periphery. There are sixty-eight primary septa; they
are lamellar for half their length from the inner margin; in the
outer half they become delicate and flexuous. There is an equal
Mr. James Thomson on a New Genus of Rugose Corals. 175
number of minute secondary septa, which are hardly recognisable,
and each is united by angular interseptal dissepiments. The central
area is eight-and-a-half lines in diameter, exhibiting the cut edges of
the lamellae, which pass into the central depression. The fossula is
small, and one of the primary septa, two-thirds of the length of
the others, passes into it.
Height of corallum, 3| inches. There is a small portion of the
inferior extremity deficient, otherwise it would have been fully
4 inches long. Diameter of section, imperfect, a considerable portion
on the concave side of the corallum being eroded; if, however, we add
a proportionate space for the part wanting, the diameter would be
2 inches 3 lines.
Formation and Locality. — Found in a band of shale which overlies
the lowest bed of carboniferous limestone in Langside Quarry,
Beith, Ayrshire.
This species is distinguished from the preceding by the larger
dimensions of the central area. The septa are stouter and less.
numerous, and the vesicular tissue is less dense. I have much
pleasure in naming this species in honour of Professor Owen, F.R.S.
Albertia subconicum. Thomson. Sp. nov.
Plate III., Fig. 5.
Specific Characters, — Corallum conico-cylindrical, tall, curved ; epi-
theca thin, with encircling lines and shallow, irregular ammlations
of growth ; the calice is shallow ; the septa are prominent at the
interlocular area; they descend sharply downwards into the central
area, and are more or less everted towards the periphery. The lamellae
in the central area are convex, descending to the inner margin of
the primary septa in the outer margin, and in the inner, into the
depression in the centre of the corallum. In the centre of the
central area there is a small obovate protuberance, which in trans-
verse section is seen to be formed of convex plates, the convexity
being outwards. There are sixty-four primary septa, alternating with
an equal number of minute secondary septa, and each is united by
sparse and angular interseptal dissepiments. The septal fossula is
conspicuous, and is occupied by one primary septa, a third of the
length of the others, and a portion of the structure of the central
area passes into it. The central area is seven-and-a-half lines broad,
and in transverse section exhibits the cut ends of the vertical lamellae.
There are seventeen lamellae, and the interlamellar dissepiments are
sparse and rectangular.
176 Philosophical Society of Glasgow.
Height of coral lum, 6| inches; diameter of calice, 1J inch.
Formation and Locality. — Found in a band of shale that overlies
the lowest post of carboniferous limestone at Langside, Beith,
Ayrshire.
This species differs from the preceding in the form and arrange-
ment of the central area. The lamellae are more numerous, and in
transverse section approximate more closely the genus Aspidio-
phyllum than do any of the other species. The lamellae, however,
do not pass into the centre of the central area, as in Aspidiopht/Uum ;
they stop short of the centre, and bend downwards at both extremi-
ties, and assume a more or less sub-conical aspect, and in the central
depression there is a small protuberance.
EXPLANATION OF PLATES.
Plate I.
Fig. 1. — Albertia Victoria Regia, natural size. Lower carboniferous, Langside,
Beith, Ayrshire.
Fig. 1a. — A longitudinal section of the same, natural size.
Fig. 2. — Albertia Aryylli, natural size. Lower carboniferous, Langside, Beith,
Ayrshire.
Fig. 3. — Albertia Lindstrthni, natural size. Lower carboniferous, Langside,
Beith, Ayrshire.
Fig. 4. — Albertia vesiculates, natural size. Lower carboniferous, Langside,
Beith, Ayrshire.
Plate II.
Fig. 1. — Albertia Victoria Regia, Enlarged about six times to show the delicate
and elegant structure of this unique coraL
Plate III.
Fig. 1. — Albertia irregularus, natural size. Lower carboniferous, Langside,
Beith, Ayrshire.
Fig. 2. — Albertia depressa, natural size. Lower carboniferous, Langside, Beith,
Ayrshire.
Fig. 3. — Albertia intermedium, natural size. Lower carboniferous, Langside,
Beith, Ayrshire.
Fig. 3a. — A longitudinal section of the same, natural size.
Fig. 4. — Albertia Otceni, natural size. Lower carboniferous, Langside, Beith,
Ayrshire.
Fig. 6.— Albertia subconicum, natural size. Lower carboniferous, Langside,
Beith, Ayrshire.
riWinys !fiit. Svr. ifGUnyfu: Ilolr I
""*!■'<'*,■«,, ,,„„
ti:-..
ftivrrdmijs lint. See p/'O'lasymt: Plat,
Ommw*
Mr. Andrew Wallace on Pauperism and tlic Poor Law. 177
XVII. — Pauperism and the Poor Law. By Mr. Andrew Wallace,
Inspector of Poor, Govan Combination.
[Read before the Society, 1st May, 1878.]
[Abstract.]
The subject assigned to me is not only of great importance, but
also of great difficulty, requiring much care and delicacy in the
handling. Sydney Smith, in one of his critical essays, says, "A
pamphlet on the Poor Laws generally contains some little piece
of favourito nonsense, by which we are gravely told this enormous
evil may be perfectly cured. The first gentleman recommends
little gardens ; the second, cows ; the third, a village shop ; the
fourth, a spade; the fifth, Dr. Bell, and so forth." There is still
a good deal of this nonsense amongst us, and it would be well that
while doing our utmost to ameliorate pauperism, wo should be care-
ful not to rush to hasty conclusions, or fancy we have discovered
an infallible and immediate remedy for this deep-rooted disease.
It is quito a common thing for Poor Law reformers to condemn
our present Poor Laws in to to, and to blame them for the existence
of pauperism and the demoralised state of the poor. They think
that the former days, when the poor were under the care of the
church, were better than these; and they argue that pauperism will
never be removed until the Poor Laws are abolished and the old
principle of administration restored. But this is a mere dream of
the imagination. " 'Tis distance lends enchantment to the view "
in regard to the olden days. The condition of the poor prior to the
passing of the Poor Law Act of 1845 was such as urgently called
for reform. The country was literally swarming with beggars and
vagrants, who plundered more than they received in alms ; while
the deserving poor were neglected and sent to the wall. They
received miserable pittances of one, two, and three shillings per
calendar month; and in some poor parishes not more than from
two shillings to ten shillings per annum. The Commission ap-
pointed in 1843, to inquire into the condition of the poor, stated
Vol. XL— No. 1. k
178 Phihsojjhkal Society of Glasgow.
that "the funds raised for the relief of the poor . . . are in many
parishes of Scotland insufficient. Throughout the Highland dis-
tricts, and in some parts of the Lowlands also, where the funds
consist solely of what may be raised by the church collections, the
amount is often inconsiderable. In many places the quantum of
relief given is not measured by the necessities of the pauper, but
by the sum which the kirk session may happen to have in hand
for distribution." Even in city parishes, where a more systematic
organisation prevailed, the allowances were "miserably deficient."
It was out of that report that the Poor Law Amendment Act was
framed, and on the whole it has worked remarkably well
The charge made against it, that it has increased the pauperism
of the country, has not been verified. We are told on good autho-
rity that the average number of paupers, excluding dependants, to
the population during the ten years ending 1817 was 1 in 39*9 :
the average of the three years, 1835-6-7, was 1 in 29, although it
is said that in the latter period a certain number of dependants
were included. But in 1847, after the Poor Law Act had been
some time in operation, the average was 1 in 35*7. So that the
immediate effect of the passing of the Act was not to increase, but
somewhat decrease the number of paupers. But the real test of the
influence of the Poor Law Act does not stop here. Indeed it only
begins here. For if it were true, as is alleged, that the tendency of
the Act has been to pauperise and demoralise the people, it would
follow that as the system grew in years it would grow in iniquity,
and its evil influence would be increasing from year to year. The
very opposite, however, has been the case. The ratio of paupers
to the population has very materially decreased since 1847. In
May, 1855, the number of registered poor on the rolls at one time
was 79,887, or 1 in 36 of the population of 1851. In May, 1865,
the number was 77,895, or 1 in 39 of the population of 1861. In
May, 1875, the number was 65,661, or 1 in 51 of the population of
1871 ; while in May, 1877, the number had still further decreased to
62,058, or 1 in 54 of the population of 1871. And let it be
remembered that it has chiefly been during the last thirty years
that the large immigration of Irish people has taken place; and
it need scarcely be said that the Irish element in Scotch pauperism
has been very considerable.
I am free to confess, however, that when we come to look at the
expenditure side of the question, the results are not so satisfactory.
That has been growing steadily year by year from 1847, at least
down to 1869, when it reached its maximum; although it is grati-
Mr. Andrew Wallace on Pauperism and the Poor Laic. 179
Tying to know that since 1869 the tide has taken a turn, and a
gradual and very appreciable decrease has been going on. It
would take too much time to go minutely into all the phases of
this increased expenditure ; but one or two of the more prominent
it will be necessary to notice, and first, as to the extent of the
increase. In 1847 the total expenditure on the relief and manage-
ment of the poor was £433,915, while in 1869 it reached as high as
£931,275, or more than double ; and in 1877 it amounted to £858,907,
being an increase over 1847 of 98 per cent., while the number of
paupers had decreased from 74,161 to 62,058. You will say it would
take a good deal of explanation to justify this enormous increase !
Well, after all, it is not without some reasonable justification. It
must be borne in mind, in the first place, that the cost of living has
materially increased during the last thirty years. It takes more to
keep even a pauper now than it did then. Food, fuel, house rents
and other necessaries have all increased from 30 to 50 per cent. A
more liberal spirit now prevails moreover towards the poor, and
even Parochial Board members are not so stern as they used to be.
But there are sources of increase independently of these. In 1847
it is estimated that only £57,740 was expended on pauper lunatics,
whereas in 1877 the expenditure on pauper lunatics had increased
to £173,311 — that is, the cost of pauper lunatics has been trebled
since 1847, and now forms a fifth of the whole Poor Law expenditure.
Again, the decrease in the number of paupers, which, as we have*
seen, has been very considerable, has only been accomplished by a
more careful supervision and by a stricter application of the poor-
house test, and these have not been put into operation without
increased expenditure on poorhouse buildings and management.
In 1847 there were only 14 poorhouses in Scotland, while in 1877
the number had increased to 62. In the former year there was no
expenditure on new buildings; but in 1869 there was expended on
these buildings not less than £110,091, and in 1877 £52,598. And
besides the cost of the buildings, the cost of indoor maintenance
is more than double the outdoor allowances. To add a still
further redeeming feature to this apparently ugly aspect of our
modern pauperism, it may be stated that the increase in the
expenditure has not kept pace with the increase of the national
wealth and prosperity. In 1847 the average poor rate was 10 Jd.
per £ on the valuation, while in 1869 it had only increased to
11£<L, and in 1877 it was as low as 9d. per £.
I have entered into these statistics not only in justice to the
present Poor Law and its administration, but in order to enable
180 Philosophical Society of Glasgow.
the Society to start upon a true basis in any inquiries or proposals
in the direction of reform. If we proceed upon the rash and un-
founded assumption that the influence of the Poor Law Act of
1845 has only been to increase the pauperism and demoralisation
of the people, we may be led to propose some sudden and harsh
measures of reform, which would, if carried out, prove disastrous
to the interests of the deserving poor. Whereas if we recognise
the fact that under the operation of the law, the number of paupers
has materially decreased, while the expenditure has largely in-
creased from one point of view, but somewhat decreased from
another, then we will be in a better position to devise means for
the still further reduction of the number as far as that is wise and
desirable, and to reduce the expenditure as far as practicable.
The question that meets us here is, Would it be desirable to
diminish largely the number of our paupers and to curtail greatly
the cost of their relief? Absurd as this question may seem at first
sight, there can be no doubt it requires a discriminative reply. If
it is meant, Would it be desirable to reduce the number of persons
who require parochial relief? of course, there can only be one
answer, — an emphatic Yes. But if it is meant that with society
in its present condition, and the habits of the lower classes as they
now are, we must make a great diminution of pauperism, then I
imagine a little more caution must be exercised before we rush to
a conclusion. Which of these aspects of the subject does the
Society wish to consider at present? There can be no doubt
as to which is the most important. To remove the causes of
pauperism by an improvement of the social, sanitary, educational,
moral and religious condition of the people is one of the loftiest
themes that can engage the attention of any man or any society;
and this may receive attention in the subsequent discussion. But
I take it that you expect me to treat the subject with special
reference to the method of Poor Law administration.
And, first, let us consider how for it is possible to reduce wisely
the number of paupers by a more strict administration of the Poor
Law. There are two methods by which we may form an estimate
of the extent to which pauperism may thus be reduced, viz. : By
considering the materials of which our paupers are composed, and
by contrasting our pauperism with that of other countries. Re-
garding the former of these aspects, we find that the ranks of
pauperism are made up from the following classes :— (1.) Widows,
with or without dependants ; (2.) Men, disabled for work from sick-
ness or infirmity; (3.) Deserted wives, with dependants; (4.) Or-
Mr. Andrew Wallace on Pauperism and the Poor Law. 181
phan and deserted children ; (5.) Single women, with illegitimate
children; (6.) Lunatics.
These six classes embrace nearly the whole of the persons entitled
to relief. For in Scotland no able-bodied man is entitled to relief,
however great his destitution may be ; and here a curious apparent
difficulty meets us. If these persons are legally entitled to relief,
how can we, by a legal administration of the law, reduce the num-
ber? The answer to this question will be found in an analysis of
the various classes of applicants, and by an inquiry into the avail-
able methods of granting relief. The widows form by far the largest
proportion of our paupers. Taking Govan Parish as a fair criterion
of the other parishes, the proportion of widows to the whole is
from 45 to 50 per cent. The exact figures in Govan are— number
of paupers on out-door roll, 1,711, of whom 850 are widows; num-
ber of paupers in poorhouse, 523, of whom 117 are widows. It will
be said the widows are a deserving class, and should receive kindly
treatment; but there are various kinds of widows. Some have
grown-up families who ought to support them, but who are often
unwilling. There are also aged, lonely widows, who live in hovels
on a morsel of bread and a cup of tea; and there are younger
widows, whose husbands have been cut off in their prime, and who
are left with young dependent children. This last class, when well-
behaved, are most deserving, and should be well treated both for
their own and their children's sake. But the other two classes
should be more cautiously dealt with. The first should be well
tested, so as to throw them, upon the care of their sons and
daughters; and the second should be tested, as many of them are
assisted by churches and friends, and may often be able to do light
work, and thus support themselves. Besides, it is not always a
charity to give money relief to those who are half-Btarved in their
own homes, — better to provide for them in the poorhouse. Of the
disabled men with wives and families, of whom there are always a
considerable number, especially in winter, it is frequently desirable
that liberal consideration should be given, for by this means they
may all the sooner be restored to health, and rendered self-support-
ing. But where the parties have fallen into poverty through mis-
conduct, or have friends able to support them, or where they might
have been members of sick societies, it would not be wise to grant
money relief readily. Nothing ought to be done to encourage im-
providence. Deserted wives should be thoroughly tested, for often
there is collusion between the spouses, and often too the wife is as
much to blame as the husband for the desertion. The orphans and
182 Philosophical Society of Glasgow.
deserted children form a considerable element in our pauperism.
The average number chargeable in Scotland is about 6,064, of
whom 4,046 are orphans, and 2,018 deserted. The cost of their
maintenance will be about £60,000 per annum. These should
be tenderly dealt with. Women with illegitimate children should
not be taken upon the pauper roll if it can be avoided. As they
have transgressed the moral law, it would be a pity to relieve them
of the temporal consequences, and throw the burden upon others,
— although even here no rigid, merciless law should be laid down.
It is believed that there are nearly 600 women chargeable as paupers,
with about 1,000 illegitimate children, and it is certain that by more
strict administration this number might be reduced. The remain-
ing class, the lunatics, must of course be well cared for — although
it is galling to think that about 40 per cent, of this numerous and
expensive class are rendered insane through drink. There is room
for preventative measures here, — and room, too, for economy in the
mode of treatment. Our asylums are too costlv, and too much is
spent on mere decoration and adornment. It will thus be seen
that there is scope for the curtailment of pauperism by strict and
careful administration.
The pauperism of Scotland, as compared with other countries,
does not appear to be excessive. The ratio of registered poor in
Scotland is 3 per cent.; in England, 3-5 per cent. The rate per £
on the valuation is 9 id. in Scotland, and Is. 5{d. in England. As
compared with Ireland, it would appear at first sight that our pau-
perism is very high. During 1874-75 there were only 77,000
paupers chargeable in Ireland to a population of 5,500,000, while
the expenditure on parochial and medical relief was £1,001,989;
the figures in Scotland being 105,000 paupers, and £71)4,916 of
expenditure, to a population of only 3,500,000. But on a close
examination, we find that pauperism is a heavier burden in Ireland
than in Scotland ; for while the average poor-rate in the latter is
9 £d. per £ on the valuation, in the former it is Is. 6d. per £, or
nearly double, the country being so much poorer. It must be also
borne in mind that Ireland has been relieved by Scotland of a great
number of its pauper population. In the year 1874, there were
no fewer than 14,197 Irish-born paupers in Scotland, or nearly a
seventh of the whole, of whom 487 were lunatics; while, on the
other hand, the number of Scotch paupers in Ireland was almost
nil. And still further, pauperism in Ireland is largely on the
increase, while in Scotland it is considerably on the decrease.
It is not very easy to arrive at an exact comparison between the
Mr. Andrew Wallace oh Pauperism and tlie Poor Law. 183
pauperism of Scotland and that of Continental countries, partly
from the want of exact statistics, and partly because the modes of
administration are different; but I have no hesitation in saying
that the numbers in the latter will, as a rule, be a little higher, and
the expenditure considerably lower than in the former. For ex-
ample, in France, with a population in 1861 of 37,382,225, there
were 1,200,000 in receipt of relief from the public funds, or at the
rate of 3*45 per cent., but the annual allowances only averaged
14 fr. 16 c., or about 12s. per head. In the city of Berlin, with a
population of under a million, there were in 1868 no fewer than
56,771 in receipt of relief, being fully a half more than in Scot-
land proportionately, although it must be stated that a large
proportion of these received medical relief only. But the average
rate of aliment was only about a half of what is allowed in Scot-
land. Again, in the town of Elberfeld, in Germany, with a popu-
lation in 1867 of 64,732, the rate of paupers was 3 \ per cent., as
compared with 3 per cent, in Scotland ; and the rate of aliment
was £2, 14s. 5|d., while in Scotland the rate is at least double that
sum : and in Sweden, the number of persons in receipt of parochial
relief (out-door) in 1865 was in the ratio of 3*6 per cent, of the
population (besides in-door poor), while the expenditure was only
at the rate of about 30s. per head per annum.
We now come to consider what measures may be adopted for the
reduction of pauperism, regarding that question within the limited
area of Poor Law administration ; and the first and principal mea-
sure which experience has shown to be available is the application
of the poorhouse test. There can be no doubt that this has proved
a most efficacious instrument of restriction in time past, and that it
is capable of being rendered still more efficacious. In Ireland, for
example, in the year 1857, there were only 51,761 paupers charge-
able at one time to a population of above 6,000,000, or 1 in 115 ;
while in the same year there were in Scotland 88,622 paupers to a
population of about 3,000,000, or 1 in 34. But mark the difference
in the modes of treatment. In Ireland there were only 1,096 in
receipt of out-door, and 50,665 of in-door relief; while in Scotland
about 80,000 were on the out-door, and only between 8,000 and
9,000 on the in-door rolls. We are not here approving of the Irish
system of relief, but simply showing the effect of the two systems.
As we have already said, Irish pauperism is on the increase. This
arises from a relaxation of the poorhouse test, as the following
figures will show. In 1874 the out-door paupers had increased
from 1,096 to 30,928, while the in-door paupers had decreased only
184 Philosophical Society of Glasgow.
from 50,665 to 47,113, clearly showing how eager the rush for
out-door relief is when the administration is relaxed.
In England the testing movement has been of more recent
origin, but the results have been equally decisive. Indeed, in some
unions the results have been marvellous. Six years ago the union
of Whitechapel, London, had no fewer than 2,500 out-door paupers,
while last year the number had actually decreased to 150, while
the increase in the in-door poor was comparatively trifling. In the
Stepney Union there were in 1871 about 4,000 on the out-door
roll, while in 1877 there were only 160. And in St. Georges-in-
the-East the number was reduced from 1,500 to 150, and these
startling results were brought about by a strict application of the
poorhouse test. No wonder that some enthusiastic reformers
should have jumped to the conclusion that the cure for pauperism
had at last been discovered. But here, again, we are not holding
up this experience as a model from which to copy, but only to
show what the poorhouse test can do when put strictly in force.
In 1871 the pauperism of these London parishes was extravagantly
and scandalously high, being about three or four times greater
than in Glasgow and Edinburgh. But now it is almost as much
below the average in these latter places, and it is quite evident
that there is room for us to improve now in our turn, although
perhaps not to the same extent. We in Scotland are more cautious
than our impulsive neighbours in the south, and having never gone
so far in the path of extravagance as they, we are not likely to
proceed so far in the path of coercion and repression.
I am of opinion that to adopt anything like a universal system
of in-door relief, without first making some provision for the support
of our deserving poor who will not accept such relief, would be
harsh and unjust; for there are many really worthy and deserving
people who cannot provide for themselves, and who would be
degraded by being sent to the confinement of the poorhouse,
where they would be forced to mix with the worthless and the
dissolute. Indeed, a reform would require to be made in the poor-
house arrangements before the system of in-door relief could be
very largely extended to persons who ought, properly speaking,
to be sent there. There should be a better classification amongst
the inmates. The deserving but utterly destitute poor should be
separately and more leniently dealt with, and the undeserving
should be more strictly dealt with, and the labour test more
severely applied. To many the poorhouse is little better than
purgatory; to many more it is a place where food and lodging;
Mr. ^Andrew Wallace on Pauperism and the Poor Law. 185
may be obtained without work, or an hospital for recuperation
from vile diseases and distempers. It is gratifying to know that
the Board of Supervision is labouring with commendable zeal in
the direction now stated ; and I have no hesitation in saying that
if its efforts are seconded by the action of the various Parochial
Boards throughout the country, the proportions of pauperism will
be greatly curtailed, and a better treatment of the poor be effected.
Another method by which the growth of pauperism may be
checked is by a stricter surveillance and a more frequent visitation,
of the homes of the paupers. We must watch their career after
they are placed upon the roll, as well as inquire carefully into their
circumstances before they are placed upon it. There can be no
doubt that the touch of parochial money has sometimes a baneful
effect. As it comes easily, so frequently it goes as easily, and it
is to be feared that much of the out-door relief is spent upon drink.
Some time ago the Govan Board caused a special visitation to be
made at the homes of their out-door paupers, and the following is
an abstract of the results : — There were 432 paupers visited on the
evenings of the pay-days, and of these only 271 were found at
home ; 24 of the latter number, or fully 8 per cent., were found to
have been drinking or otherwise misbehaving. Of these 21 were
offered the poorhouse, and only tliree accepted the offer ; two were
struck off the roll, and one was cautioned. There were also 313
visits paid to paupers who had got clothing for themselves or
children, of whom only 245 were found at home. Of this latter num-
ber eleven had pawned the clothing, and seven others were strongly
suspected, but not definitely proven guilty. EiglU of the eleven
were offered the " House, " only one of whom accepted the offer;
two were struck off the roll, and one cautioned.
Of course this result does not give anything like an adequate
idea of the extent to which the funds are misapplied. In a large
city parish like ours, where there are above 1700 persons on the
out-door rolls, and these scattered over the whole city, it is only
a very partial surveillance that can be exercised by three or four
out-door Inspectors, who have to visit as many new applicants
every year as well. Before this work can be efficiently done,
the ratepayers themselves must come forward voluntarily and
render their assistance, — as it is at present in the town of Elberfeld,
and as it was upwards of fifty years ago in Glasgow by Dr.
Chalmers and the kirk session of St. John's Parish. In Elberfeld,
with a population of between 60,000 and 70,000, the town is.
divided into as many as 252 quarters, arranged according to the
18C Philosophical Society of Glasgow.
number of houses they contain, each of which quarters has one
voluntary visitor, whose duty it is to visit the homes of the out-door
poor, and report to a district committee, of which there are eighteen
in the town. By this means imposture is detected and really dis-
tressing cases succoured ; and as each visitor has no more than four
families to look after, it is possible for even " a much occupied man
of business to combine the duty of personal visitation of the poor
with the duties of his family and calling." The system of Dr.
Chalmers was somewhat similar to that adopted in Elberfeld, and
was attended with the happiest results, in the reduction of pauper-
ism and in the relief of the really deserving poor.
Another method by which pauperism might be mitigated is by
the centralisation of the entire system of relief or charity, both
public and private. Our poor-rates are not to be measured by the
mere legal assessments levied. In every city and town there are
numerous private charities, which carry on their operations in
glorious independence of each other. In a city like Glasgow there
are ten times the amount spent in private that is spent in legal
charity, and not infrequently the same persons share in more than
one of these charitable societies. Thousands of pounds are thus
squandered, and the poor are demoralised. There should be one
grand central charity clearing-house, in which the recipients of
relief, not only from Parochial Boards but also from private
charities, should be classified and indexed, and their history and
circumstances condensed. After the fashion of the police system
in Paris, there should not be a poor person who obtains charitable
assistance in Glasgow who is not thoroughly known, and his history
written down in the chronicles of this great central organisation.
Were this done it would certainly open the eyes of our benevolent
citizens to the manner in which their hard-earned money is being
squandered away.
Another scheme for the diminution of pauperism, although it be-
longs to the extra rather than to the intra parochial sphere, is the
establishment of extensive and really valuable Friendly Societies
amongst the working classes. No one has any idea of the amount
that is already being invested in so-called Friendly and Burial
Societies, — a great portion of which is literally thrown away,
because invested partly in worthless and partly in mere Burial
Societies, instead of real Benefit or Life Societies. Were this
principle taken up and wrought out in a truly wise and com-
prehensive system, it would be of incalculable advantage to the
irking classes. Ordinary Life Insurance Societies have been of
Mr. Andrew Wallace on Pauperism and the Poor Laic. 187
the very highest benefit to the middle classes. Why should a
similar principle not be carried farther down the social scale,
whereby, on payment of a small weekly sum, a man may be insured
against ill health, want of work, or old age, as well as against the
necessities that arise at death? If such a system as this were
carried out apart from mere trades unions, and on a broad, sound,
and honest principle, so that no man of ordinary means would
have any excuse for being uninsured, then the poorhouse test
could be applied with far greater stringency, and an inducement
would be given towards greater providence and self-reliance. And
this is a scheme which could be worked with profit, and not with
loss, to those who undertook the labour of organising it. Ordinary
Insurance Societies pay well, so also, I am persuaded, would
this.
Within the last few years various attempts at Poor Law legis-
lation have been made, inaugurated by the report of the special
committee appointed in the year 1869-70, on the motion of Mr.
Craufurd, then member for the Ayr Burghs. That gentleman had
made very serious charges against the present Poor Law, — blamed
it for the entire existence of our modern pauperism, and especially
poured out the vials of his wrath against the Board of Supervision,
demanded its immediate abolition, and urged a reversion back to
kirk-session administration. But, like a great many other amateur
legislators, he soon found that he had made up his mind rashly and
erroneously, and he had at length to come to the conclusion that
things were not so bad as he had thought. But still rash and
extreme in his views, he went too far in the very opposite direction
from what he first intended. Instead of abolishing the Board of
Supervision, he now proposed to confer upon it greatly increased
powers, and indeed to make it the only really responsible executive
in the administration of the Poor Law. Another extreme view
he propounded was his scheme of large combinations. Allowing one
or two anomalous cases to fill up his entire vision, he proposed to
combine for Poor Law purposes every parish that met in the same
Parliamentary or Royal Burgh; and had this scheme been adopted,
the parishes of Glasgow, Barony, Govan and Gorbals, with a
population of nearly 700,000, would have been united ; and Edin-
burgh, St. Cuthberts, Canongate, North and South Leith, with a
population of nearly 400,000 would have been put in the same
position. The parochial world rose up in arms against these
extraordinary proposals, and Mr. Craufurd's Bill was thrown out
on the second reading during the Session of 1871-2. Almost
188 Philosophical Society of Glasgow.
every year since then Government has introduced a Poor Law
Amendment Bill ; but although the combination clauses were de-
leted, and other modifications made, the Poor Law still stands
where it did. The country does not seem prepared to hand over
its parochial affairs to any official central organisation. The prin-
ciple of local self-government seems too deeply rooted in the mind
of the community to be easily upturned.
It is worthy of notice, however, that this legislative agitation has
been productive of some good results. Parochial Boards began to
take the alarm and to set their houses in order. More carefulness,
of expenditure began to be observed, undeserving paupers were
struck off the rolls, and the poorhouse test was more strictly
applied. A gradual decrease both in the number of paupers and in
the expenditure has been going on, until it has really become some-
what considerable. And there is room for a still further decrease
if properly gone about. It is to be hoped that tbe discussion of
parochial affairs will not stop yet. We in Scotland are far behind
our English neighbours in this respect. In England pauperism is
looked upon as an important subject. JTor several years back
conferences have been held in various districts, at which peers
and members of the House of Commons, landed proprietors, clergy-
men, and other men of influence have taken a part. The subject
has been discussed in all its bearings, and as a result the pauperism
in London and some of the larger towns has been greatly dimin-
ished. It is strange that we in Scotland are so apathetic on this
question. Our public men avoid it as they would the plague,
and it is a terra incognita to all but a limited few. I trust that
the example set by the Glasgow Philosophical Society will be
followed by other public bodies, and that a greater knowledge and
interest in the subject may soon prevail.
I can only glance at one or two points regarding which reform
is desirable. In my opinion something can be said for a public
audit of parochial accounts. There is no doubt that without some
supervision, Parochial Boards are prone to extravagance. We
have seen some instances of this in our own city quite recently.
But I do not think it desirable that the discretion of Parochial
Boards within well defined limits should be taken away. It would
not do to make our public men — who give much time and labour
to looking after the poor — the mere servants of an official Central
Board. But a closer connection between the auditors of parochial
accounts and the Central Board should be instituted, so that illegal
extravagant payments should be rebuked, and certified for
Mr. Andrew Wallace on Pauperism and the Poor Law. 189
surcharge at the instance of the ratepayers in the law courts when
necessary.
Another important point in which reform is urgently needed, is
the constitution of Parochial Boards. The present system is radi-
cally antiquated and unsound, especially in rural parishes, where
the Boards are large heterogeneous bodies, composed of several
hundreds of persons who know nothing of parochial affairs. And
large as these bodies are, the distribution is grossly unfair. The
Poor Law enacts that one-half of the assessment shall be borne by
the owners and one-half by the occupants of lands and heritages.
Common sense and equity would suggest that these two classes
should be somewhat equally represented in the administrative
body. But instead of that, a portion of the former class — viz.,
owners of property of £20 rental and upwards, are all members
of the Boards, while the rest of the owners and the occupants are
represented by only from four to thirty elected members. As an
instance of this glaring inequality may be quoted the Parochial
Board of Old Monkland, which has become notorious of late, and
which is made up of 560 members, who are owners as aforesaid,
while all the rest of the owners and tenants are represented by only
twenty-three elected members ? It is impossible that justice and fair
play can prevail in such a board. Even in burgh al parishes and com-
binations, however, where the representative principle is observed,
an anomaly also exists, in the appointment of kirk session, muni-
cipal, and other members. In our three city parishes, for example,
which are composed of thirty-three members each, about one-fourth
of these are appointed by the kirk sessions, the magistrates, and the
Commissioners of Supply. This ought not to be; for while it may be
true that these bodies send only good men to the Boards, the
principle is unsound, and no good reason exists for the preference
shown. In my opinion, all the Parochial Boards, both in town and
country, should be representative bodies, elected by the ratepayers
as a body, although the number of votes accorded to each might
continue as it is, proportionate to the property qualification possessed.
The law relating to taxation might also be improved. Shootings
and fishings in the occupancy of the proprietors should not be
exempt, for this tends to prevent the proper cultivation of land,
and to the curtailment of labour. Feu-duties should also be
assessed; for why should the owner of a farm, whose rent is
limited, be heavily taxed, while the superior of a feuing
park, which yields ten times more than the farm, goes free?
Possibly, too, large investors in stock, shipping, and other non-
190 Philosophical Society of Glasgow.
heritable investments should be assessed; for why should a specu-
lative millionaire only pay poor rates on his dwelling-house, and
a poor farmer pay on his entire farm? Deductions from gross
rental should be abolished, and an equitable classification of pro-
perty, with a scale of rating, introduced in their place, so as to
make assessments in accordance with the means of the persons
assessed. The law of settlement gives rise to a great deal of
trouble and a good deal of expense ; but I am not sure that its
total abolition would be attended with good results. It might
give rise to numerous evictions from rural districts, which have
already been too numerous, and the large towns would be heavily
burdened. But the law might be simplified and codified, and made
less productive of litigation. Expensive lawsuits in the Court of
Session should be prohibited. A court of arbitration, consisting of
the legal members of the Board of Supervision, might dispose of
mere questions of law; and where cases are brought into the sheriff
courts in disputes about matters of fact, no appeal should be allowed
beyond the sheriffs-principal. Removals of paupers should be sub-
ject to appeal to the sheriff or Board of Supervision, for many High-
land parishes are very harsh in ordering paupers home, solely as a
means of getting quit of them. Grants from the consolidated funds
are not by any means conducive of economy; but their application
• to lunacy and medical relief are perhaps advantageous in securing
better treatment for the insane and the diseased. And perhaps
some relief should be given from this fund to some poor overtaxed
Highland parishes, although it would require to be done very cau-
tiously, and under strict supervision. Possibly, in some counties
a uniform poor rate would be desirable, although, I think, if this
principle were universally adopted, it would lead to extravagance.
The boarding-out of orphan children has wrought better in Scotland
than in England, where baby-farming prevails to some extent. But
the system requires great care and watchfulness, so as to prevent
moral contamination and cruel treatment. To the credit of the
Scottish peasantry, it must be said that very few cases of this kind
have been discovered. On the contrary, strong ties of affection
have usually been formed between the children and their guardians,
and a freer and more wholesome life has been enjoyed by the former
than if they had been brought up within the walls of a poorhouse.
The new Education Act has imposed a considerable additional bur-
den upon Parochial Boards in paying for the education of non-pauper
children, whose parents are unable to pay the fees. The Act should
be amended on this point, and these cases dealt with by the School
Mr. Axdiiew Wallace on Pauperism and the Poor Law. 191
Boards — the machinery of these boards being quite qualified to
overtake this duty. Nothing should be done to encourage, but
everything to discourage pauperism; and there can be no doubt
that, to bring people into familiar contact with pauperism for the
education of their children, has the tendency to break down the
spirit of independence, and the natural shrinking from mendicity,
which I am persuaded is still a prominent feature in our national
character.
In conclusion, permit me to say that the present Poor Law of
Scotland is by no means such an obnoxious law as many suppose.
It has not conduced to the greater pauperism of the community, as
the statistics we have quoted abundantly show. There is, however,
room for improvement in'the direction of economy, but this is the
fault of the administration rather than of the law itself. The im-
provement could be effected by a more exact and uniform audit of
accounts, and by a greater interest being taken in the expenditure
by the ratepayers. The number of paupers might be very consid-
erably reduced by more frequent visitation and inspection of the
poor in their own homes, not only by officials, but by voluntary
unpaid agents or visitors, carefully selected, and a stricter appli-
cation of the poorhouse test. But any radical cure for pauperism
must come from without — from an improvement in the sanitary,
social, and moral condition of the people. Intemperance must
be grappled with and overcome, habits of forethought and econ-
omy must be inculcated and acquired, and the efforts of chari-
tably disposed persons must be directed more to the assisting of
the poor to' support themselves and their relatives than to the
mere relief of their wants. Mere almsgiving is frequently
not true charity, but the reverse. And poor people should be
taught, even though it should be through suffering, that a shil-
ling earned by honest labour is better than ten shillings got for
nothing. Should these somewhat disjointed and desultory remarks
tend, in however small a degree, to awaken interest and direct
thought and action with reference to the huge, melancholy, per-
plexing question of pauperism, and lead to some measure being
adopted for the amelioration of the condition of the poor, I shall be
amply repaid for the labour I have bestowed in the preparation of
this paper.
On the motion of the Chairman, a vote of thanks was awarded
to Mr. Wallace for his paper.
192 Philosophical Society of Glasgow.
Discussion ojt Mb. Wallace's Paper.
Mr. Younger, Chairman of the City Parochial Board, expressed
his general concurrence in Mr. Wallace's opinions, while differing
from him on one or two matters of detail He regarded the pre-
sent Poor Law Act as a substantial success, and referred to the
necessity for employing the poorhouse test as much as possible, for
the purpose of correcting erroneous ideas on the part of the poor as
to the nature of pauperism. He differed from Mr. Wallace with
respect to the way in which aid should be given for the education
of poor children, contending that such aid should be publicly re-
garded as a mark of pauperism, and should therefore continue to
be dispensed by Parochial Boards.
i Mr. Sigismund Schuman approved generally of the paper, and
described the organisation of the visiting committees to be found
in Elberfeld and other industrial centres in Rhenish Prussia. He
believed that such an organisation would probably be found bene-
ficial in the large cities of Great Britain.
Mr. M. Conxal, Chairman of the School Board of Glasgow, had
listened with pleasure to Mr. Wallace's paper, and approved much
of the idea of instituting visiting committees for the regular visita-
tion of the poor. He had for many years been convinced that
pauperism in large cities would receive its death-blow were such
committees associated with the Christian Church; and he antici-
pated that no insuperable difficulty would present itself in bringing
about the zealous co-operation of all denominations.
Mr. W. R. W. Smith and Mr. Alex. Scott both concurred in
the opinions expressed by Mr. Connal, the latter referring by way
of illustration to the Foundry Boys organisation in Glasgow, which
was entirely undenominational, and included 1,700 or 1,800 regular
visitors.
Mr. Wallace, in reply, referred to the evil results of want of
co-operation amongst charitable societies, but dreaded the effect of
sectarian feeling in the way of carrying out the scheme indicated
by Mr. Connal, in relation to Church supervision. He thought
that individual supervision, apart from the churches, would be
preferable.
Mr. James Thomson on several New Species of Corals, 193
XVIII. — On the Genua Cyothoxonia and several New Species from
the Carboniferous Limestone of Scotland. By Mr. James
Thomson, F.G.S., Corresponding Member of the Royal
Society of Sciences of Liege, Belgium, and Honorary Mem-
ber of the Royal Ducal Society of Jena.
[Read before the Society, December 19, 1877.]
Generic Characters. — Corallum simple, turbinate, conical and
cylindro-conical, and more or less curved or twisted ; epitheca com-
plete, with annulations of growth; calice variable in depth, and
exhibiting in the centre of its floor a more or less conspicuous
styliform columella. The septa are of two orders; the primary
septa extend inward to the columella, and the secondary septa
are considerably shorter, and sometimes hardly recognisable. In-
ternal structure triareal. The central area is occupied by the
styliform columella, which in a transverse section is seen to be
formed of minute cellular tissue. The intermediate area (" inter-
lobular area") is composed of the inner margins of the primary
septa, and there is no interlocular tabula, and the spaces are open
from the superior to the inferior part of the calice. The outer area
(" interseptal area") is occupied by the septa. The secondary
septa are usually short, and near the periphery they are united by
sparsely developed interseptal dissepiments. There is a septal
fossula.
The longitudinal section exhibits the styliform columella in the
centre of the corallum, and formed by sparse vesicular tissue. The
intermediate (" interlocular area") is usually open for three-fourths
of the length of the corallum, and at the lower extremity the
primary septa are seen to curve inwards, and become attached to
the columella in the centre of its floor. The outer ("interseptal
area ") is occupied with sparsely developed, convex, interseptal dis-
sepiments, convexity inwards. In PI. II., Fig. Id, they are five in
Vol. XL— No. 1; o
194 Philosophical Society of Glasgow.
number, and in some forms there is not more than one dissepiment
in the interseptal area.
The genus Cyathaxonia was established by Michel La in 1846 for
the reception of a group of corals, which in some respects are closely
allied to the genus AxophyUum of M. Edwards and J. Haime. (PI.
III., Figs. 3, 3a, 4, 4a, and 4b.) It is, however, separated from Axo-
phyUum by the presence of a deep calice and tall styliform columella,
and by the union of the primary septa to the columella near the
lower extremity of the corallum ; while in AxophyUum the primary
septa never reach the columella, and are intercepted by a system of
more or less remote and concave tabula, and the central area is
usually composed of more or less spirally twisted lamella?.
In the external aspect of some of the forms which I have grouped
under the name of Cyathaxonia (Plate I., Fig. 3), they present a
close resemblance to the young forms of ClisiophyUum Dana, but
they are separated by characters sufficiently distinct and easily recog-
nisable, to warrant them being placed in the genus Cyathaxonia.*
Firstiy, — We have in several species a conical, calicinal boss,
which is formed by the prolongation of the primary septa, which
near their inner margin bend upwards and extend to the styliform
columella in the centre of the corallum ; whilst in ClisiophyUum the
primary septa stop short of the centre (PL III., Figs. 5 and 5a) ;
and the coluinellarian area is formed by more or less numerous
vertical lamellae, and in external aspect is seen in the form of a
conical boss, which in a transverse section the cut edges of the
vertical lamellae are seen to extend from the inner margin of the
primary septa to the centre of the central area, and united by more
or less dense endothecal dissepiments. (PL III., Fig. 5a.)
Secondly , — The intermediate (" interlocular area n) in Cyathaxonia
is open from the superior to the inferior extremity of the calice,
and there is no interlocular dissepiments ; whilst in ClisiophyUum
* I am satisfied that when our investigations are more matured, some of
the species hereafter described will be grouped as mere varieties. Indeed,
the transitions from the one species into that of its next ally are so constant,
that I am persuaded that not only the species of this genus, but also the entire
range of genera and species of the carboniferous period will require to be re-
modelled. Yea, even a rearrangement of the families is imperative in any
satisfactory system of classification, — a result which can only be successfully
accomplished by the co-operation of the paUentologists of Europe, who have
devoted their attention to this obscure branch of palaeontology ; and only by
that means may we hope to erase not only synonyms out also anomalies that at
present exist — an opinion shared by my friend Professor De Koninck, who is
willing to be one of the co-operative workers, and whose aid is invaluable in
order to arrive at a somewhat satisfactory system of classification.
Mr. James Thomson on several New Species of OoraU. 195
the " interlocular area " is closed in by more or less dense inter-
locular dissepiments, and the primary septa never extend to the
centre of the corallum.
Thirdly, — In a longitudinal section in Cyathaxonia the styliform
columella is seen to be composed of more or less sparse vesicular
tissue, and exposes the open interlocular area and the sparsely
developed interseptal dissepiments; whilst in Clisiophyllum the
corallum is divided by a median columellarian line, which extends
from the crown of the conical boss to the inferior portion of the
corallum; and the central area is composed of interlamellar en-
dothecal convex dissepiments, convexity outwards and pointing
upwards; and the "interlocular area" is closed in by convex
tabula, convexity upwards; and the "interseptal area" is composed
of a zone of dense interseptal convex dissepiments, convexity
upwards and inwards, and arranged in oblique rows.
Cyathaxonia profunda, Thomson, Sp. no v.
Plate L, Figs. 1 and 1a.
9
Specific CJiaracters. — Corallum simple, cylindro-conical and curved;
epitheca thin, and there are broad irregular annulations of growth ;
calice circular and very deep ; in some forms it extends to nearly
the base of the corallum. The columella is stout, and a portion of
the primary septa ascend to the crown of the styliform columella as
so many keeled ridges. The septa are very prominent, and a short dis-
tance below the periphery there are coarse irregular granulations along
their lateral margins. There are twenty-four primary, alternating
with an equal number of secondary septa. The latter extend inwards
for one line from the periphery. The fossula is small, and contains
one primary septa of shorter length than the others in it. Height
of corallum, variable. The tallest specimen I have yet discovered
is 9 lines long, and I have them also only 3 lines long ; diameter of
calice, 3} lines in the tallest specimens.
Formation and Locality. — Found at Cunningham-Bedland, Dairy,
Ayrshire, in rotten shale that is interstratified with the thin bands
of limestone, which characterise the upper portion. of the lower
members of the carboniferous limestone of Scotland.
This species is distinguished by the profound calice, and the
coarse irregular granulations along the lateral margins of the septa,
and by the stout and keeled columella.
196 Philosophical Society of Glasgow.
Cyathaxonia tortuosa, MUntter.
Plate L, Kg. 2; 2a.
Specific Characters. — Corallum simple, cylindro-conical, turbinate,
curved, and twisted, and some forms are adherent upon the spines of
Producta; epitheca thick, and broad irregular annulations of growth ;
calico circular and shallow; the septa are rudimentary. There
are twenty-four primary septa, alternating with an equal number
of secondary septa, which are hardly recognisable, and usually
about half a line long. The columella is prominent, and slightly
compressed at the top. The septal fossula has one of the primary
septa half the length of the others in it.
Height of corallum, variable ; the tallest form I have discovered
is 13 lines ; diameter of calice, 2 J lines. The turbinate forms are
usually half that length, but are considerably broader in the calice.
Position and Locality. — Found in rotten shale, interstratified
with thin bands of limestone, near the base of the carboniferous
limestone at Cunningham-Bedland, Dairy, Ayrshire, and Brockley,
Lesmahagow, Lanarkshire, in a similar horizon.
This species is readily recognised by the shallow calice, the stout
rudimentary septa, and by the tall, tortuous aspect some of the
forms assume.
Cyathaxonia domiformis, Thomeon. Sp. nov.
Plate L, Fig. 3.
Specific Characters. — Corallum simple, conical, and curved ; epi-
theca thick, and there are irregular annulations of growth ; calice
circular, shallow. The columella is dome-shaped, and occupies fully
a half of the area of the calice. The septa are well exposed, and
extend sharply downwards, and ascend to the crown of the dome-
shaped boss in the centre. There are thirty primary, alternating
with an equal number of secondary septa, and the inner margins of
the septa are minutely granulated. The fossula is small, and con-
tains a single short septum.
Height of corallum — I have specimens from 1J to 5 lines; dia-
meter of calice, 3 lines in the largest specimen.
Formation and Locality. — Found in Cunningham-Bedland Quarry,
near Dairy, Ayrshire, in a rotten shale that is interstratified with
Mr. James Thomson on several New Species of Corals. 11)7
thin hatads of limestone, which form the upper members of the lower
beds of carboniferous limestone in Scotland.
This species diners from the preceding in the possession of a stout
conical boss in the centre of the calico, and resembles some of the
young forms of the genus ClisiophyUum. It, however, diners from
that genus in the prolongation of the primary septa to the centre
of the corallum, the distinguishing characteristic of the genus
Cyathaxonia; while in Clisiophyllum the primary septa never extend
into the central area, and the columellarian space is always occupied
by a system of independent lamellae.
Cyathaxonia Dibowskeyi, Thomson, Sp. nov.
Plate I., Fig. 4.
Specific CJiaracters. — Corallum turbinate, curved, and frequently
found adherent upon the spine of Producta; epitheca thin, and
there are broad irregular ampliations of growth ; the calice is
circular and moderately deep, and tapers sharply inwards. There
are twenty-six primary septa, alternating with an equal number of
secondary septa, the latter extend inwards from the periphery for
fully half a line. The columella is prominent and stout at the
base, and tapers slightly towards the apex ; and there are delicate
ridges extending from the inferior to the superior extremity of the
Btyliform columella, one'of which is more prominent than the others,
and passes from the anterior side over the apex, and is more or less
crestiform and prominent on the anterior face. The fossula is
small, and one of the primary septa, half the length of the others,
included in it.
Height of corallum, 4 J linos ; diameter of calice, 3J lines.
Position and Locality. — Found at Cunningham- JBedland, Dairy,
Ayrshire, in rotten shale interstratified with the thin bands of
limestone which characterise the upper beds of the lower members
of the carboniferous limestone in Scotland.
I have great pleasure in naming this species in honour of Pro-
fessor Dibowskey, the eminent Russian palaeontologist.
Cyathaxonia compressa, Tfiomson. Sp. nov.
Plate L, Fig. 6.
Specific Characters. — Corallum simple, turbinate, curved, and some
forms are found adherent on the spines of Producta and Lithostrotion
198 Philosophical Society of Glasgow.
juncewn ; the epitheca is thin, and there mre minute an n illations of
growth ; the calice is deep and broad. There are twenty-tiro primary
septa, which alternate with, an equal number of secondary septa,
which extend inwards from the epitheca half the length of the
primary. The fbsanla is deep, and one of the primary septa, of
shorter length than the others, extends into it. The columella is
well developed, and much compressed to the lower extremity.
Height of corallum — an average sized form is 5 lines ; diameter of
calice, 3f lines.
Petition ami Locality. — Found in C^ytnm^t^m^l^AWnA Dairy,
Ayrshire, in the rotten shale that is interstratined with the thin
bands of limestone which characterise the upper beds of the lower
members of the carboniferous limestone in Scotland.
This species is distinguished from all the other species of this
genus by the presence of a tall stylifbrm columella, which is much
compressed to the base of the calice, and the secondary septa extend
inwards considerably more than any of the other species that I have
discovered.
Cyathaxonia elegans, Thompson. Sp. nov.
Plate L, Fig. 5.
Specific Characters. — Corallum simple, conical, and slightly curved,
and frequently found adherent upon the spines of Produda; the
epitheca is smooth, and there are simulations of growth ; the calice
is deep and circular ; the septa are obscure and granular. There
are thirty primary, alternating with an equal number of minute
secondary septa, which resemble an elongated granule. The fossula
is hardly recognisable, and one of the primary septa, of shorter
length than the others, is in it. The columella is slender, and
slightly raised above the floor of the calice ; and the septa curve
upwards, and expose a series of delicate ridges in the floor of the
calice.
Height of corallum, 4£ lines ; diameter of calice, 2| lines.
Position and Locality. — Found in Cunningham-Bedland, Dairy,
Ayrshire, in rotten shale, interstratified with the thin bands of
limestone which characterise the upper beds of the lower members
of the carboniferous limestone in Scotland.
This species is distinguished by the delicate columella and obscure
granular septa, and the thin epitheca ; indeed, the thinness of the
wall, including the septa, is of itself sufficient to distinguish this
from all the other species of this genus.
Mr. James Thomson on several New Species of Corals. 199
Cyathaxonia expansa, Thomson. Sp. nov.
Plate L, Fig. 7.
Specific Characters. — Corallum simple, turbinate, and curved;
epitheca thin, with annulations of growth; calice circular, broad, and
everted towards the periphery; the columellarian area is broad and
dome-shaped, and there are several elongated plates which form a
slightly raised keel in the centre of the columellarian area. The
septa are of two orders. The primary pass inwards, and at the inter-
locular area they bend abruptly downwards to the outer margin of
the columellarian area; they then ascend and pass into the centre of
the boss, and are attached to the plates that form the mesial keel.
There are forty-eight primary, alternating with an equal number of
secondary septa. The secondary extend inwards to within a line of
the outer margin of the columellarian area. The septal fossula is
large, and is occupied by three of the primary septa, which fall
short of the others by half their length.
Height of corallum, 4£ lines; diameter of calice, from 3£ to 5
lines.
Formation and Locality. — Found in rotten shale interstratified
with thin bands of limestone which characterise the upper beds of
the lower members of the carboniferous limestone, Cunningham-
Bedland, Dairy, Ayrshire, and in the same horizon at Brockley,
Lesmahagow, Lanarkshire.
This species is distinguished from Cyath. compressa by the shape and
broad calice, and the septa are more delicate and in greater numbers
proportionately, and the styliform columella is never so tall.
Cyathaxonia cornua, De Koninck.
Plate I., Fig. 8.
Specific CJuiracters. — Corallum simple, conical, cylindro-conical,
and curved, and some forms are adherent upon the spines of Pro-
ducta; epitheca thin, and there are irregular and shallow annulations
of growth ; calice circular and deep ; the septa are well developed,
and at the interlocular area they project, and contract the calice for
fully half its depth. There are eighteen primary, alternating with
an equal number of secondary septa; and there are granulations
along the face of each septum. The fossula is small, and one of
200 Philosophical Society of Glasgow.
the primary septa extends half the length of the others into it: the
columella is tall, prominent, and conical.
Height of corallum, 4} lines; diameter of calice, 2} lines.
Position and Locality. — Found in Cunningham-Bedland Quarry,
near Dairy, Ayrshire, in rotten shale that is interstratified with
thin bands of limestone, near the base of the carboniferous lime-
stone in Scotland ; also in the banks of the Poniel Water at Brock-
ley, Lesmahagow, in a similar horizon of strata.
Cyathaxonia mammilata, Thomson. Sp. nov.
Plate L, Fig. 9.
Specific Characters. — Corallum simple, turbinate, and frequently
adherent upon the spines of Producta and Lithostrotian junccum ;
epitheca thin, and there are minute annulations of growth ; calice
circular, and expands sharply outwards, indeed some forms approxi-
mate to evertion. There are twenty-four primary septa, which extend
inwards to within half a line of the columella, where they bend
sharply downwards for a line in depth, they then curve upwards
and become attached to the columella. There are an equal number
of minute secondary septa, and each is more or less mammilated-
The fossula is obscure, and one of the primary septa, half the
length of the others, extends into it.
Height of average corallum, 4 J lines ; diameter of calice, 31 lines.
Position and Locality. — Found in rotten shale that is interstrati-
fied with the thin bands of limestone which characterise the upper
beds of the lower members of the carboniferous limestone in Scot-
land.
This species is distinguished by the mammilated aspect of the
septa, and it expands more sharply than Cyath. granulata.
Cyathaxonia Konincki, Edwards and ffavme.
Plate III., Fig. 10.
Specific Characters. — Corallum simple, turbinate, curved, and some
forms are adherent on the spines of Producta; epitheca thick, and
there are irregular annulations of growth, and faint longitudinal
lines ; the calice is circular, moderately deep ; the columella is pro-
minent, stout at the base, and compressed at the apex ; the septa
Mr. James Thomson on several New Species of Corals. 201
are well developed and thin. There are twenty-four primary,
alternating with an equal number of minute secondary septa.
Height of corallum, 5 lines ; diameter of calice, 3£ lines.
Position and Locality. — Found in Cunningham-Bedland, Dairy,
Ayrshire, in rotten shale, interstratified with the thin bands of
limestone which characterise the upper beds of the lower members
of the carboniferous limestone in Scotland.
This species is distinguished by the form of the columella, — it is
stout at the base, tapers upwards, and is much compressed at the
apex.
Cyathaxonia Newburyi, Thomson. Sp. nov.
Plate IL, Figs. 1, 1a, 1b, lc, Id, and Ie.
Specific Characters. — Corallum simple and slightly curved; epitheca
thin, with delicate encircling lines and irregular annulations of
growth ; calice circular and shallow ; the septa are well developed.
There are thirty-eight primary, alternating with an equal number
of secondary septa, and each is laterally united by rectangular inter-
septal dissepiments. The columellarian area is broad and compressed
near the apex. The fossula is small, and is occupied by two of the
primary septa, of shorter length than the others.
Height of corallum, Fig. 1, 10 lines; diameter of calice, 11 lines.
Position and Locality. — Found in Cunningham-Bedland, Dairy,
Ayrshire, in rotten limestone, interstratified with the thin bands of
limestone which characterise the upper beds of the lower members of
carboniferous limestone in Scotland ; and also at Brockley, Lesma-
hagow, Lanarkshire, in a similar horizon of strata.
This species is distinguished from all the other species of the
genus by the form and arrangement of the columellarian area, and
it resembles in some respects several of the forms belonging to the
genus Clisiophyllum; if, however, differs from that genus in the pro-
longation of the primary septa to the styliform columella in the
centre of the corallum. M. Edwards and J. Haime in their
description of Clisiop. coniseptum, state that "some of the largest septa
advance quite to the centre of the calice." This, however, I have
in no instance found, and have prepared several hundreds of sections
of that genus. The central area in every instance exhibits lamellae
which are distinct in themselves, and there is always a zone of
intermediate plates between the inner ends of the primary septa,
and the lamella? in the central area (Plate 3, Fig. 5a); while in
2011 Pk
CjtatJtaxoiua the ■ii«Mnpni*i-»^ cuaiacteiistir is tin prolongation of
the primary wept* inu> thr centre a: Xki- mrmWum.
1 havt* grtxu ]Utmsim u. nammr mis species it honour of Profeowr
JSewbuiy. liit cnuii£n~< Antenna? paigymuHopg;.
lyaiiuukoui:. to oust. Tjwiwi«». Sp nor.
Sfmcciri: iVurwvir*. — '. or-ilmn. ainiirit*. conical ami sii^htlr enrveo.
and vonif forms art ailiier-jir 111*01. Vim sran« o: 2*rodueta : epitheca
aniooth. thick, and ui*. anruaman* of rrowii am "weL marked ;
oalicv circular, ahuliov . anil t^vennl near tin periphery: the septa
art- m out. Tiicrt art Tirenrs -ash: lTTiiuarv B^pta. alternating with
an rquu. xiuiutnT of mmixit s-t-canuary «»pia. Tbt- columella is
jiromuttur: anil «iouv and taiters- Towards th: sniteriar extremity,
and i* siurhvT roiiniT-jsswl Tin iossnifc is deei*. and ocrunied by
tuir of xiir lcrnuart mm>^ of shorter ienrxi. thai, xhf other*.
Htuci.: of coruZhm.. f Ime* ninmergr of caiirt. r»; lines.
1*4*0**1*. aub J.«irti£i?t. — Found il C ttt n in cJianv-Bedianc. I*alry.
Ayrahir;., in rvcioi. Muut. ^n^erKimtiiifd via. Vnii. bands of hme-
fitoiM\ * hioL art usually found lomiinr xhf npiier tied* of xht iowcr
ntcMuhor* of thr rarlt.oiift!rouf ]:mcsioii* 21. SroiicntL
Thi* sprtdt* if di>x:i!rTiisiit*d iron: CytUkasxmin Jjiimnmimyu itt
noarost al}y, ir th* p>s&<*&5K]i. i*f Eiouver Btnita. xht columella is
e&ouu*r, the cot*.".", tat. i> m.»rt rarirV. and iht calicf is nsuaExiiDi
CT&u;ax.oii& : •r:»Iift»rt. JLr\"7.'flSRr/.
?iss< 11.. Fi£ :»
ijpas^rlf Caa^arsjnr.. — CrinHtiL sulju*, raziiLnai/fi. and enrrad:
epruieca iLin, ▼iii j.&^civtiiiiikl Hires- azii ther* are axrxuaxions of
£rvvth aiii m:rr% Iwy^AT t-ZiETiiiiic Hzk*: the ofclir* is circtcjar
ax*d "renr dw:; lit s<*vl& *rr co&nLr*. TLf-rr ar* "nrfiXTT-fMir
|*MBarT, vli:*l ki iLe !•**£ rnrTx iz-Triris iz. i>r:isiafSi? xMcea.
ajud abo^iai f.»r k aL>n disrjkijr* wj- iL* siir cc lie avrTafaMi :
y<uwfr alven^Vr "»"i*»i: an *•. ;^1 -XL2Li»er of seosztiarr k jca vfeiea
aw* Lardl^ rwoyr :.tal»lr. T:_r cvl^zs^-lla is rccdirsent, ari tapers
to a dcucav; |y>JLi ai :i;-r s^itric-r exTrerniix. The foss^Ia is obs>TBPe»
a^i ia vwrjpl*d lv a t-riiuarr siepr^zii of ahrner icx^ih lhaa the
Mr. James Thomson on several New Species of Corals. 203
Height of corallum, 3 lines — there is a small portion of the inferior
extremity a wan ting; diameter of calice, 2£ lines.
Position and Locality. — Found in Cunningham-Bedland, Dairy,
Ayrshire, in the rotten shale that is interstratified with the thin
beds of limestone which characterise the upper beds of the lower
members of the carboniferous limestone of Scotland.
This species is distinguished by the deep calice, the obscure rudi-
mentary septa, the tall tapering columella, and the longitudinal
lines of the epitheca.
Cyathaxonia Armstrong!, Thomson. Sp. nov.
Plate IL, Figs. 4 and 4a.
Specific Cliaracters. — Corallum simple, acutely turbinate, and
cono-cylindrical ; epitheca thin, and marked with delicate annula-
tions of growth ; calice sub-circular and deep. The septa are well
developed. There are forty-eight primary septa, which are slightly
mammillated towards their outer margin, and some of them are
curved at their inner margins; and these alternate with an equal
number of secondary septa, which extend inwards half the length
of the primary septa. The fossula is deep, and three of the primary
septa, half the length of the others, extend into it. At the eleventh
septum from either side of the fossula there are depressions, and
several of the primary septa fall short of the others, and converge
into these bilateral depressions.
Height of corallum, 9 lines ; diameter of calice, Id lines.
Position and Locality. — Found in Cunningham-Bedland Quarry,
near Dairy, Ayrshire, in rotten shale that is interstratified with
thin bands of carboniferous limestone, forming the upper beds of the
lower members of that period.
This species is distinguished from the CyatJi. Newburyi by the sub-
mammillated aspect of the septa towards the periphery, and by the
presence of the bilateral depressions ; and I have great pleasure
in naming it, in honour of its discoverer, Mr. James Armstrong,
to whom I am indebted for allowing me to add it to the list of
species.
Cyathaxonia ejecta, Thomson. Sp. nov.
Plate IL, Fig. 5.
Specific Characters. — Corallum simple, small, cono-cylindrical;
i
204 PtZxzkix: Sxx* i GUspx.
ephhaca thick, and there are irregular annmlations of growth. The
calice is circular and moderasely deep, and the margin is everted.
The columella is stoat, and is ejected fbEr half a line above the
periphery. The primary sepca are obscure in the superior, and a
portion of them coalesce and become prominent at the inferior
extremity, and converge inwards and ascend to the crown of the
columella. Th^re are twenty-six primary, alternating with an
equal number of secondary septa, and each is coarsely granulated
down to the floor of the calice. The fossula is large, and is occupied
by one of the primary septa, half the length of the others.
Height of corallum, 4 lines, the largest specimen yet discovered ;
diameter of calice, 2j lines.
Pormaiion and Locality. — Found in rotten shale, interstratified
with the thin bands of limestone which characterise the lower mem-
bers of the carboniferous limestone in Scotland — Cunningham-
Bedland, Dairy, Ayrshire.
The thick epitheca. and the stout and prominent columella dis-
tinguish this species from CyatA. j.nvlifera of M'Chesney. its nearest
ally, by the prominent columella/and by the granulations of the septa,
and the calice is considerablv shallower.
Cyathaxonia grannlata. Thomson. Sp. nor.
Plate 1L, Fig. &
Specific Characters. — Corallum simple, short, acutely turbinate,
and slightly curved ; epitheca thick, with minute simulations of
growth ; calice circular and deep ; columella prominent, com-
pressed, and delicately striated, and the stria? are onamented with
minute granules. The primary septa are well developed, and are
conspicuous at their union with the columella. There are twenty-
four primary septa, alternating with an equal number of secondary
septa, and each is minutely granulated. The fossula is small, and
there is one primary septum, half the length of the others, in it.
Height of corallum, 5} lines ; diameter of calice, 4 lines.
Position and Locality. — Found in Cunninghani-Bedland, Dairy,
Ayrshire, in rotten shale, interstratified with the thin bands of lime-
stone which characterise the lower members of the carboniferous
limestone in Scotland.
This species is distinguished by the presence of the minute granular
on the septa and columella.
Mr. James Thomson on several New Species of Corals. 205
Cyathaxonia Cyathaminuta, Thomson. Sp. nov.
Plate IL, Fig. 7.
Specific Character*. — Corallum simple, cornute, and curved;
epitheca thin, and there are delicate longitudinal striae, produced by
the outer margin of the septa pressing through the thin epitheca.
There are irregular shallow annulations of growth ; the calice is
circular and deep ; the columella is short and prominent, and half
a line long, and the crown is depressed in, like a miniature cup';
the septa are well developed, and more or less mammillated from the
periphery to the interlocular area, where they project and circum-
scribe the lower portion of the calice. There are thirty primary
septa, alternating with an equal number of minute secondary septa.
The fossula is large, and two of the primary septa, of shorter length
than the others, are in it.
Height of corallum, largest specimen, 6£ lines ; diameter of calice,
4 lines.
Formation and Locality. — Found in rotten shale interstratified
with the thin bands of limestone that characterise the upper portion
of the lowest beds of carboniferous limestone in Cunningham-
Bedland, Dairy, Ayrshire.
This species is distinguished from all the other species of the
genus by the possession of a cup-like depression in the crown of the
styliform columella.
Cyathaxonia spiralis, Thomson. Sp. nor.
Plate IL, Figs. 8, 8a, 8b, 8c, 8d.
Specific Characters. — Corallum cono-cylindrical and turbinate,
curved ; epitheca thin, with broad annulations of growth ; calice
irregular and shallow; the septa are irregularly developed, and
project in the interlocular region. There are thirty-six primary
septa; some of them project more than the others, and these
alternate with an equal number of secondary septa. The columella
is stout and prominent, and formed of convolute plates, which at
their lateral margins are slightly reflex and resemble a spiral screw.
The fossula is large, and is occupied by one of the primary septa, half
the length of the others.
Height of corallum, Fig. 8, 9 lines; diameter of calice, 7$ lines.
206 Ffi^cMptarA: Soskfy if GZupor.
This specimen is imperfect* the qtitbeca and a portion of the calico
ire awanting. The smallest specimen is 4 lines long.
Porititm amd Lo?a2ii\\ — Found in rotten shale interstratified with
thin bands of limestone, near the base of the carboniferous lime-
atone, ax Cnnnincham-Bedland. Dahr. AvTshire.
This species is readily distinguished by the spiral aspect of the
columella.
CVathaxonia retirclaxa. TbtmuxHt. Sp. nov.
ria» 11L. F^. L
SperJAc tfbtrw-tarx. — Corallum simple, turbinate, and more or less
curved ; epitheca thin, and there are delicate annuls tions of growth,
and is sometimes found adherent on the spines of Produtta ; the
calice is deep : the columella is slightly raised above the floor of the
calice, and is more or leas reticulata. The primary septa are not
prominent, and at their inner extremity they converge inward and
ascend, and form a reticulate eolumellanan boas. In a corallum 2|
lines long there are twenty- two primary septa, which alternate with
an equal number of minute secondary septa, which are hardly recog-
nisable. The fossula is small, and two of the primary septa, of
shorter length than the other*, are included in it.
Height of corallum. -J lines : diameter of calice, f lines. Since the
plate was engraved I hare discovered another specimen 4 lines
long, and the calice is 6 lines broad.
*
Position and Locality. — Found at Cunningham-Bedland, Dairy,
Ayrshire, in rotten shale, interstratified with the thin bands of
limestone which characterise the upper beds of the lower members
of the carboniferous limestone in Scotland.
This species is distinguished from all the other species of the
genus by the reticulate aspect of the crown of the columellarian
area, and is closely allied to the genus Petrxtia of Miinster : it how-
ever differs from that genus in the presence of a definitely formed
columella.
EXPLANATION OF THE PLATESL
Plate L
Kg- I-— Cyathaxonia profunda, Thomson. Lower carboniferous, Cunningham-
Bedland, Dairy, Ayrshire.
Pig. la.— Transverse section of the same. Broekley, near Lcsmahacow, Lanark-
Explanation of the. Plates. 207
Fig. 2. — Cyathaxonia tortuosa, Minister. Lower carboniferous, Cunningham -
Bedland, Dairy, Ayrshire.
Fig. 2a. — Transverse section of the same. Brockley, near Lesmahagow, Lanark-
shire.
Fig. 3. — Cyathaxonia domi/ormis, Thomson. Lower carboniferous, Cunningham-
Bedland, Dairy, Ayrshire.
Fig. 4. — Cyathaxonia Dibowskeyi, Thomson. Lower carboniferous, Cunningham-
Bedland, Dairy, Ayrshire.
Fig. 5. — Cyatliaxonia elegant, Thomson. Lower carboniferous, Cunningham-
Bedland, Dairy, Ayrshire.
Fig. 6. — Cyathaxonia compressa, Thomson. Lower carboniferous, Cunningham-
Bedland, Dairy, Ayrshire.
Fig. 7. — Cyathaxonia expansa, Thomson. Lower carboniferous, Cunningham-
Bedland, Dairy, Ayrshire.
Fig. 8. — Cyathaxonia cornua, Do Koninck. Lower carboniferous, Cunningham -
Bedland, Dairy, Ayrshire.
Fig. 9. — Cyailiaxonia mammillata, Thomson. Lower carboniferous, Cunning-
ham-Bedland, Dairy, Ayrshire.
Fig. 10. — Cyatliaxonia Konincki, Edwards and llaime. Lower carboniferous,
Cunningham-Bedland, Dairy, Ayrshire.
Plate 1L
Fig. 1. — Cyathaxonia Nrwhnryi, Thomson. Lower carboniferous, Cunningham-
Bedland, Dairy, Ayrshire.
Fig. 1a. — Calice of the same.
Fig. 1b and lc. — Young examples of the same.
Fig. Id. — A transverse section of the same. Lower carboniferous, Brockley,
Lesmahagow, Lanarkshire.
Fig. 1e. — A young example, adherent on the spine of Producta. Cunningham-
Bedland, Dairy, Ayrshire,
Fig. 2.— Cyathaxonia robusta, Thomson. Lower carboniferous, Cunningham-
Bedland, Dairy, Ayrshire.
Fig. 3. — Cyathaxonia prolifera, M'Chcsney. Lower carboniferous, Cunning-
ham-Bedland, Dairy, Ayrshire.
Fig. 4. — Cyathaxonia Armstrongi, Thomson. Lower carboniferous, Cunning-
ham-Bedland, Dairy, Ayrshire.
Fig. 4a. — The calice of the same.
Fig. 5. — Cyathaxonia ejecta, Thomson. Lower carboniferous, Cunningham-
Bedland, Dairy, Ayrshire.
Fig. 6.— Cyathaxonia granulate, Thomson. Lower carboniferous, Cunningham-
Bedland, Dairy, Ayrshire.
Fig. 7.— Cyathaxonia Cyathaminuta, Thomson. Lower carboniferous, Cunning-
ham-Bedland, Dairy, Ayrshire.
Fig. 8. — Cyatliaxonia spiralis, Thomson. Lower carboniferous, Cunningham-
Bedland, Dairy, Ayrshire.
Fig. 8a.— The calice of the same.
Fig. 8b, 8c, 8d. — Young examples of the same.
208 Philosophical Socidy of Gbugote.
Plate I1L
Fig. 1. — Cyathaxtmia reticulata, Thomson. Lower carboniferous, Cunningham-
Bedland, Dairy, Ayrshire.
Fig. 1a. — A transverse section of the same.
Kg. 2.* — Azopkyilum Lower carboniferous, Cnnnin^ham-
Bedland, Dairy, Ayrshire.
Fig. 3. — Axophyllum Lower carboniferous, BrockJey. Les-
mahagow, Lanarkshire.
Fig. 3a. — A transverse section of the same.
Fig. 4. — AxophyUum expaiuum, Edwards and Haime. Lower carboniferous,
Charlestown, Fifeshire.
Fig. 4a. — The calice of the same, in which there is a fragment of Htterophy&a
grandig.
Fig. 4b. — A transverse section of the same.
Fig. 5. — Clisiophyllum Lower carboniferous, Broadstone,
Beith, Ayrshire.
Fig. 5a. —A transverse section of the same.
* I have introduced these three 8]>ecies of AxophyUum, and one species of
ClitktphyUum, in order that the structure of these genera may be compared with
that of the genus Cyatftcxonia.
liwcerdinys FhtJ. See of'(Xasgcu: Plate /.
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MINUTES OF SESSION.
November 14, 1877.
The Philosophical Society of Glasgow met this evening in the
Queen's Rooms, Clifton Street, Professor Sir William Thomson,
LL.D., D.C.L., F.R.S., the President, in the Chair.
Mr. George Watson and Mr. Archibald Robertson were appointed
Auditors of the Treasurer's Accounts.
Professor Graham Bell delivered an Address " On the Principles
and Applications of the System of Visible Speech invented by his
father, Mr. Alexander Melville Bell."
November 21, 1877.
The Seventy-sixth Annual General Meeting of the Philosophical
Society of Glasgow, for the election of Office-Bearers, and other
business, was held this evening in the West Hall of the Upper
Corporation Galleries, Sir William Thomson, LL.D., D.C.L., F.R.S.,
President, in the Chair.
The following were elected Members of the Society, viz. : —
Hugh Thomson, M.D., 330 Renfrew Street; Mr. William Key,
Gas Manager, 1 Lancelot Place, Pollokshields; Mr. Daniel Suther-
land, Greenbrae, Pollokshields; Mr. Robert Cochrane, 7 Crown
Circus, Dowanhill; Mr. William J. A. Donald, Whitolaw Cot-
tage, Both well; Mr. James Buchanan, Grain and Seed Merchant,
389 to 393 Parliamentary Road; Samuel Sloan, M.D., 4 Newton
Terrace; Mr. Matthew Forsyth, I.Ai, Architect, 191 West George
Street; Mr. Hugh F. Smyth, Bank Agent, 2 Dumbarton Road; Mr.
James Beveridge, Teacher, 81 Gloucester Street; Robert Renfrew,
M.D., 42 Lansdowne Crescent; Mr. Robert A. Robertson, Nen-
thorne, Aytoun Road, Pollokshields; Mr. R. Cooper Rundcll.
Underwriters Rooms, Royal Exchange; Abraham Wallace, M.D..
4 Newton Place, Charing Cross; Mr. George Murray, Teacher,
Vol. XL— No. 1. r
210 Philosophical Society of Glasgow.
18 Carrington Street; Mr. William R Muir, Shipbroker, 345 Bath
Crescent; Mr. James Macaulay, Teacher, 29 Arlington Street;
John Pirie, M.D., 26 Elmbank Crescent
Mr. E. M. Dixon, the Interim-Secretary, read the Annual Report
by the Council on the State of the Society, which was approved of,
and ordered to be printed in the Proceedings.
Report on the State of the Society, 1876-77.
1. Membership. — The number of members on the roll at the
beginning of Session 1876-77 was 638; during the Session 59 were
added, and 1 was reinstated from the suspense list — making in all
698. Of this number 18 resigned; 4 left Glasgow, their names
being placed upon the suspense list; 12 died; and 7 were struck
off for non-payment of annual subscriptions — leaving on the roll at
the beginning of the present Session, 657.
2. Sections. — As shown by the papers published, or otherwise
mentioned, in the last number of the Proceedings, very good work
was done during the Session 1876-77 by nearly all the Sections.
The Sanitary and Social Economy Section having recently made
new arrangements, promises to show increased activity during the
ensuing Session.
3. Future Accommodation of the Society. — During the Session
1876-77 the Council have had under consideration arrangements
for the removal of the Society upon the termination, in 1879, of the
current lease, and a Committee, consisting of Mr. W. R. W. Smith,
Mr. Deas, Mr. Honeyman, Mr. Dron, with Dr. Wallace as Convener,
has already made some progress in looking for premises suited to
the wants of the Society. No step has, as yet, been taken which
commits the Society in any way; but the Council attach great
importance to these negotiations, which scarcely admit of being
prolonged beyond the ensuing Session, and which will probably
have a great effect upon the future usefulness of the Society.
Mr. John Robertson, Librarian, read the Annual Report by the
Library Committee on the State of the Library, which was approved
of, and ordered to be printed in the Proceedings.
Libeary Committee's Report.
Tour Committee have to report that space for the books which
have been added to the Library during the year has only been got
Minutes of Session. 211
by removing a number of the older and less important works to an
adjoining room. On this account a thoroughly satisfactory shelf-
arrangement of the books cannot be carried out in the meantime.
Many of the works of which volumes or parts were wanting have
been rendered complete; but in a number of cases this cannot now
be done, unless any of the members are able, without inconvenience,
to supply some of the defects from their private libraries. To those
gentlemen who have already done so the thanks of the Society are
due. The preparation of the new Catalogue has been steadily carried
on. The labour of cutting up, arranging, spacing out and pasting
on the titles has been much more tedious and troublesome than had
been anticipated. The work now approaches completion, and will
be ready for the use of the members in a week or two. Stock has
been taken of the Proceedings of the Society. They have been care-
fully arranged and packed for convenient reference. Besides the
three copies reserved for the library there now remain only twenty-
nine complete sets. There are also 688 volumes which cannot be
formed into sets, and about 800 odd parts, which are not available
even for making up volumes.
During the year 1876-77, 94 volumes and 195 parts of works
have been added by purchase, 62 volumes and 167 parts have been
received in exchange, 7 volumes and 10 pamphlets have been pre-
sented to the Library, and 11 volumes havo been received from
H. M. Commissioners of Patents. At present exchanges are made
with 88 Societies. 163 Volumes have been bound, and 28 are in
the hands of the binder. The total additions to the Library have
been 174 volumes, 362 parts, and 10 pamphlets, making a total of
546, — by far the largest number that has hitherto been added in
one year. The thanks of the Society are due to those gentlemen
who have kindly presented works to the Library. Acknowledg-
ment of these will be found in the Proceedings.
John Robertson.
The Statement of Accounts for Session 1876-77, by Mr. Mann,
the Treasurer, having been printed in the circular calling the
meeting, was held as read, was approved of, and ordered to be
printed in the Proceedings.
212 Philosophical Society of Glasgow.
Abstract of Treasurer's Account.
Session 1876-77.
§x.
1876. Nov. 1.
To Balances from last Session, viz.
•
Investment with Corporation 1
Water Com-
• missioners, . .
•
•
£400 0
0
■ In Union Bonk of Scotland, .
•
•
19 4
5
In Treasurer's Lands,
•
•
•
•
3 0
4
Net Funds,
*
•
' 1877. Oct 31.
To Entry Money from 59 New Members, at 21s.,
£61 19
0
„ Annual Dues from 2 Members
for 1875-76, at 21s.,
£2 2
0
„ Annual Dues from 2 Original
•
Members for 1876-77, at 5s. ,
0 10
0
„ Annual Dues from 593 Ordinary
Members for 1876- 77, at 21s. ,
627 18
0
. „ Annual Dues . from 57 New
Members for 187G -77, at 21s.,
59 17
0
GOO 7
0
,, Life Subscriptions from 13 Ordi-
.
nary Members, at £10, 10s.,
£130 10
0
„ Life Subscriptions from 2 New ■
Members, at £10, 10s.,
21 0
0
157 10
0
„ Chemical Section—
< 1 Associate for 1874-75, .
•
•
£0 5
0
1 Do. for 1875-76, .
•
•
0 5
0
20 Do. for 1876-77, .
•
•
G 10
0
£422 4 9
M
Proceedings and Waste Taper sold,
909 IG
7 0 0
„ Sanitary and Social Economy Section—
16 Associates for 1876-77, . .400
„ Physical Section —
G Associates for 1874-75, .
11 Do. for 1875-76, .
2 Do. for 1876-77, .
2 Do. for 1877-78, .
„ Corporation of Glasgow, interest on "Exhibi-
tion Fund," .
„ Interest from Bank, ....
„ Do. from Corporation Water Commis-
sioners' Bond, ....
£1 10 0
2 15 0
0 10 0
0 10 0
5 5
71 12
0 19
0
5
44
£49 7 6
6 8 11
15 IG 0
• •
£1,420 17
64
Minutes of Session.
Cr.
1877. Oct. 31.
By Salaries and Wages, .....
„ Sum voted to Committee on Patent Laws,
„ New Books and Binding, ....
,, Printing Proceedings^ Circulars, &c, •
,, Postage and delivery of Circulars, Letters, and Parcels,
,, Stationery, ......
,, Insurance, Gas, Coal, Cleaning, &c, .
, , Furnishings and Repairs, ....
,, Petty Charges and Sundries, ....
„ Subscriptions to Bay Society, 1877, . . 1
Palaeontographical Society, 1877, 1
»»
,, Physical Section —
Expenses per Secretary of Section,
,, Sanitary and Social Economy Section —
Expenses per Secretary of Section,
„ Balances, viz.: —
Investment with Corporation Water Com-
missioners, ....
Investment with the Board of Police,
Less, due Treasurer,
Net Funds,
1 0
1 0
£400 0 0
350 0 0
£750 0 0
55 7 10
£171
20
113
200
32
8
130
28
-5
7
12 0
0 0
10 0
3 10
14 34
1 5
0 0
18 6}
12 e
5 4|
2 2 0
5 0 6
0 16 0
094 12 2
£1,420 17 6(
Glasgow, IGth Xocember, 1877.— We, the Auditors appointed to examine
the Treasurer's Accounts, have examined the same, of which the above is an
Abstract, and found them correct, the Balances at 31st October last being,
Investment with Corporation Water Commissioners, Four hundred pounds;
Investment with Board of Police, Three hundred and fifty pounds ; and due to
the Treasurer, Fifty- five pounds seven shillings and tenpencc; leaving a net
Fund of £694, 12s. 2d.
(Signed) GEORGE WATSON.
ARCHD. ROBERTSON.
The Society then proceeded to the election of Office-bearers.
It was moved by the Chairman, and carried by acclamation, that
Dr. Andrew Fergus, M.R.C.S.Eng., be appointed President in room
of Sir William Thomson, whose term of office had expired.
It was moved by the Chairman, and carried by acclamation, that
Dr. Andrew Buchanan be appointed Vice-President in room of
Dr. Fergus.
214: Philosophical Society of Glasgow.
The re-election of Mr. John Robertson, the Librarian, and Mr.
John Mann, C.A., the Treasurer, was proposed by the Chairman,
and agreed to by acclamation.
It was moved by the Chairman, and carried by acclamation, that
Mr. E. M. Dixon, RSc, be appointed Secretary, in room of the late
Mr. William Keddie.
The Chairman stated that, in addition to the four vacancies
caused in the Council by tho retiring by rotation of Mr. Alex. Scott,
Professor Jas. Thomson, Mr. St John Vincent Day, and Professor
George Forbes, two vacancies had occurred from the election of Mr.
E. M. Dixon to the offico of Secretary, and from the election of Dr.
Jas. B. Russell to the office of President of the Sanitary and Social
Economy Section. The Society would therefore ballot for six
members, and of that number the gentleman having the fewest
votes would take the place of Dr. Russell, and would remain in
office during the last of the three years for which that gentleman
had been elected to serve, while the gentleman having the next
fewest votes would take the place vacated by Mr. Dixon, and so
remain in office for two years.
The following gentlemen were nominated to fill the six vacancies,
viz. : — Mr John Honeyman, Dr. Henry Muirhead, Professor J. G.
M'Kendrick, M.D., Mr. Arch. Robertson, Mr. W. R. W. Smith,
Mr. Jas. Thomson, F.G.S., Mr. John Jex Long, Dr. James Morton,
Mr. Jas. B. Murdoch, Mr. Sigismund Schuman, Mr. J. J. Coleman,
Dr. Robert Bell.
Mr. Alex. Scott, Mr. John Kirsop, Mr. W. C. Coghill, and Dr.
J. B. Russell agreed to act as Scrutineers of votes.
The Scrutineers reported that the following had the greatest
number of votes, viz. : —
Mr. John Honeyman, .
63 votes
Professor M'Kendrick, .
60 „
Mr. W. R. W. Smith, .
• 55 „
Dr. Henry Muirhead. .
• 54 „
Mr. James Thomson, F.G.S.,
49 „
Mr. Archibald Robertson,
• 38 „
These gentlemen were therefore declared by the Chairman to-
have been duly elected Members of the Council.
The Chairman then referred to the loss sustained by the Society
during the past year, through the sudden deaths of two of its oldest
Office-bearers, Mr. William Keddie and Dr. Bryce, and called
Minutes of Session. 215
attention to the fund that is at present being raised for the benefit
of the widow and family of the former.
A paper was then read by Dr. David Foulis upon the ease of a
patient whose power of speaking distinctly by means of an artificial
larynx was exhibited before the Society.
" Dr. A. K. Irvine also received the thanks of the Society for the
experimental illustration of some points connected with the vowel
sounds emitted by the patient, and for his kindness in permitting
the artificial larynx designed by him, and which was the one used
by the patient, to be exhibited before the Society."
Mr. James R. Napier, F.R.S., also received the thanks of the
Society for a short communication regarding the mechanical quali-
ties of a species of steel manufactured by the Steel Company of
Scotland.
Sir Wm. Thomson, having vacated the Chair, then read a paper
on the Resonance of Cavities; and, on the motion of Dr. Fergus,
the Society thanked him warmly for his communication, and for
his conduct as President of the Society during the last three years.
The Society then adjourned to meet on Wednesday the 5th
December.
December 5, 1877. — Dr. Fergus, President, in t/ie Chair.
On the motion of Dr. Muirhead, the Secretary was instructed to
amend the Minute of the last Meeting as regards the vote of thanks
passed by the Society on the occasion of the reading of the paper
by Dr. Foulis, by adding the following sentence, viz. : —
" Dr. A. K. Irvine also received the thanks of the Society for the
experimental illustration of some points connected with the vowel
sounds emitted by the patient, and for his kindness in permitting
the artificial larynx designed by him, and which was the one used
by the patient, to be exhibited before the Society."
The following were elected members of the Society, viz. : —
David Foulis, M.D., 191 Hill Street; Mr. Robert Turnbull, I.A.,
122 Wellington Street; Mr. G. W. Clark, Dumbreck House; Mr.
Harry J. Smith, Ph.D., 27 Buckingham Terrace; Wm. C. Thomson,
M.D., The Firs, Partick; Robert Kirk, M.D., Newton Cottage,
Partick; Mr. J. E. Hunter, Grain Merchant, 30 Hope Street;
Donald Morrison, LL.D., Glasgow Academy, 4 Victoria Terrace,
Dowanhill.
In conformity with notice given at the meeting of the Society on
216 Philosophical Society of Glasgow.
November SI, Mr. W. R. W. Smitli moved— "That ft be remitted
to the Council to inquire into and report upon the question of
remuneration to the Treasurer." The motion was seconded by-
Mr. George Watson.
The previous question was moved by Mr. John Jex Long, and
seconded by Mr. John Mayer.
The original motion was carried by a majority.
On behalf of Mr. Thomas Muir, the Chairman gave notice of the
following motion to be brought before the Society at its next meet-
ing, viz. : — " That the printing of the papers read before the Society
and its Sections, or of abstracts of these papers, shall be delayed to
the end of the Session."
A paper was read by Mr. Alexander Buchan, Secretary to the
Scottish Meteorological Society, " On some of the more striking
Relations of Meteorology to Public Health." Mr. Buchan received
the thanks of the Society.
The Society then adjourned to meet on Wednesday the 19th inst.
December 19, 1877. — Dr. Fergus, President, in tJtc CJiair.
The following were elected members of the Society, viz : —
Mr. James Thomson, 1 Broom Park Terrace ; Mr. John Foulds,
115 Bath Street; Mr. John Colvil, 62 St. Vincent Street; Mr. M.
Emile Louis De Montereau, Nautical Instrument Maker, 107
Pollok Street; Mr.. Donald Macphail, M.B., CM., Western
Infirmary; Mr. David Newman, 12 Annfield Terrace, Partick
Hill;" Mr. Duncan Dewar, Kirkhill, Cambuslang; Mr. Andrew Hill,
31 Arlington Street; Mr. Robert Sorley, 1 Kersland Street,
Hillhead; Mr. Joseph Wilson, C.E., 175 Hope Street; Mr. Robert
Robertson, 41 Cumberland St.
The Council reported to the Society, in terms of the following
motion carried at the meeting on December 5, viz : — " That it be
.remitted to the Council to inquire into and report upon the question
of remuneration to the Treasurer."
Notice was given by the President of the following motion to be
made in name of the Council at the meeting on January 9, viz : —
" That while the office of Treasurer to this Society shall continue
to be honorary, Mr. Mann be asked to accept the sum of fifty
guineas in consideration of extra services on his part in the past."
Mr. Thomas Muir moved:— "That the printing of the papers
Minutes of Session. 217
read before the Society and its Sections, or of abstracts of these
papers, shall be delayed to the end of the Session." The motion
was seconded by Mr. Schuman. .
Mr. John Mayer moved the previous question. This motion
was seconded by Mr. John Jex Long. i
The original motion was carried by the votes of more than two-
thirds of the members present.
On the motion of the President the Society unanimously nomi-
nated the following gentlemen a committee to draw up, for inser-
tion in the Proceedings, obituary notices of the late Dr. Bryce
and of the late Mr. Keddie, viz: — Mr James Thomson, F.G.S.,
Mr. Wiinsch, Dr. J. B. Russell, Dr. . Eben. Watson, Mr. John
Mayer, and Mr. D. Mackinlay. . ■ • •
The Opening Address to the Sanitary and Social Economy
Section was delivered in presence of the Society, by Dr. J. B«
Russell, the President. , Dr. Russell received the thanks of the
Society for his address. . - ■ , ;
A paper was read by Mr. James Thomson, F.G.S., communicating
particulars recently ascertained regarding the Cyathaxonia .Genus
of Carboniferous Corals. Mr Thomson was thanked by the Society
for his communication. - ., . . ■, »
The Society then adjourned to meet on Wednesday the 9th
January, 1878. •
January 9, 1878. — Dr. Fergus, President, in the Chair.
The following were elected members of the Society, viz. : —
Mr. W. D. Scott Moncriefty 75 Buchanan Street ; Mr. James
Couper, 37 Lansdowne Crescent ; Mr. Robert Hunter Dunn, 4
Belmont Crescent: Mr. Frederick W.. Thomson, 3 St. John's
Terrace, Hillhead.
At the request of Messrs. Wiinsch and Mayer these gentlemen
were allowed to retire from the committee appointed at the last
meeting of the Society to draw up obituary notices' of the late
Dr. Bryco and the late Mr. Keddie.
The President intimated that the Council had inadvertently
neglected to consider the bearing of the 16th Article in the Consti-
tution of the Society upon the motion announced to be made at
the present meeting regarding the donation of fifty guineas to the
Treasurer for extra services ; and his proposal that the motion in
218 Philosophical Society of Glasgow.
question be postponed, in order to give the Council an opportunity
of considering that point, received the sanction of the Society.
Mr. Jas. R. Napier gave notice of the following motion to be
brought before the Society at the next meeting, viz : — " That in the
first sentence of Section XV. of the Constitution all the words
after the word ' sent ' to the end of the sentence be omitted, and
the words 'immediately to all members' substituted."
Mr. Mayer gave notice of the following motion to be brought
before the Society at next meeting, viz. : — " Inasmuch as there
seems to be some doubt in regard to the strict meaning of Clause
6 in Rule XII. of the Society's Constitution, it is hereby remitted
to the Council to frame a clause in respect of which there can be
no doubt whatever/'
The motion, " That the printing of the papers read before the
Society and its Sections, or of abstracts of these papers, shall be
delayed to the end of the Session," which was carried at the last
meeting of the Society, was again introduced by Mr. Thomas Muir,
in accordance with Article XIII. of the Constitution.
Mr. James R. Napier moved the previous question. This motion
was seconded by Mr James Mactear.
Considerable discussion followed, which was finally adjourned by
a majority to the next meeting of the Society, upon an amendment
to that effect introduced by Mr. Alex. Scott, and seconded by Mr.
W. R W. Smith.
A paper was read by Professor J. G. M'Kendrick, M.D., " On
Recent Researches concerning the Glycogenic Function of the
Liver." Professor M'Kendrick received the thanks of the Society.
The Society adjourned to Wednesday the 23rd January.
January 23, 1878— Dr. Fergus, President, in the Chair.
The following were elected members of the Society, viz. : —
Mr. J. Crooks Morison, L.D.S., 341 Bath Street; Mr. Archibald
Robertson, 36 Hope Street; Mr. J. D. Marwick, F.R.S.E., Town-
Clerk of Glasgow ; Mr. D. E. Outram, 1G Grosvenor Terrace, Hill-
head.
The President intimated that, at a meeting of the Council held on
January 16, it was resolved, with the consent of Mr. Thomas Muir
and Mr. Jas. R. Napier, to recommend to the Society that the
motion introduced by Mr. Muir in name of the Council, and the
Minutes of Session. 219
discussion of which stood adjourned to the present meeting, and also
the motion of which notice had been given by Mr. Jas. R. Napier
at the last meeting of the Society, should both be withdrawn. The
Society adopted the recommendation.
In the absence of Mr. W. R. W. Smith, Dr. William Wallace
then read Article XVI. of the Constitution, and explained its
object. He concluded by moving "That, while the office of
Treasurer to this Society shall continue to be honorary, Mr. Mann
be asked to accept the sum of fifty guineas, in consideration of extra
services on his part in the past.*' Mr. Kirsop seconded the motion.
After considerable discussion regarding the bearing of Article
XVI. upon the grant of money proposed in the motion, it was pro-
posed as an amendment by Mr. John Jex Long, " That Mr. Mann
be rewarded for his extra services by the voluntary subscription of
the members of the Society."
Mr. John Mayer seconded the amendment. The motion was
carried by a majority.
Mr. John Mayer then moved as follows: — "Inasmuch as there
seems to be some doubt in regard to the strict meaning of Clause 6
in Rule XII. of the Society's Constitution, it is hereby remitted to
the Council to frame a clause in respect of which there can be no
doubt whatever."
The motion not being seconded was lost.
A paper was read by Mr. Jas. R. Napier, F.R.S., and Professor
J. G. M'Kendrick, M.D., " On the Chemical and Microscopic
Analysis of an Unsound Wine." The Society accorded its thanks
to the readers of the paper.
The Society then adjourned to the 6th February.
February C, 1878. — Dr. Fergus, President, in tiw CJtair.
The following were elected members of the Society, viz. : —
Mr. A. Malloch Bayne, 32 India Street; Mr. David Fulton, C.E.,
135 Buchanan Street.
Dr. William Wallace introduced, for the second time, the follow-
ing motion in the name of the Council, viz. : — " That while the
office of Treasurer to this Society shall continue to be honorary, Mr.
Mann be asked to accept the sum of fifty guineas in consideration
of extra services on his part in the past."
Mr. Deas seconded the motion.
220 Philosophical Society of Glasgow.
• Mr. John Mayer contended that the grant of money proposed in
the motion involved a violation of Article XVI. of the Society's
Constitution.
On a vote being taken, there voted for the motion thirty-nine*,
and against it two. . Mr. John Mayer protested against the Society's
action in the matter, and requested that this be recorded in the
minutes. ...
{Mr. John Mann expressed his thanks to the Society for the
recognition of his services as conveyed in the motion that had been
. carried, intimated his resignation of the office of Treasurer, and
requested that Auditors might then be appointed.
. . On the suggestion of. Dr. M'Kinlay, and with the general ap-
proval of the meeting, the President requested Mr. Mann to favour
the Society by reconsidering his decision. .
A paper was read by Professor James Thomson, LL.D., C.E.,
"On House Drainage and Sewerage, Basement Storeys, Sunk Flats,
and Dry Rot." The thanks of the Society were accorded to Pro-
cessor .Thomson for his paper; and the discussion of it was post-
]>oned to an extra meeting of the Society to be held for that purpose
-on February 13.
February 13, 1878. — Dr. Fergus, President, in t/ie Cliair.
. • ■
The following were elected members of the Society, viz.: —
Mr. Joseph Hilliard, 65 Renfield Street; Mr. M. Michaelson,
3 Sandyford Place.
The discussion of the paper read before the Society by Professor
James Thomson, LL.D., C.E., on the 6th inst., then occupied the
meeting, and it was finally resolved that the discussion should be
continued before the Architectural Section on the 27th inst.
February 20, 1878. — Dr. Fergus, President, in t/te Chair.
The following were elected members of the Society, viz. : —
Mr. "William Hodge, 15 Hillsborough Square, Hillhead; Mr.
James S. Mitchell, 10 Great Western Terrace.
The following papers were read, viz.: —
1. "Observations on the Contractions of Muscle on Stimulating
Minutes of Session. 221
the Nerve." By Dr. John Barlow, Muirhead Demonstrator' of
Physiology in the University of Glasgow. * ' ■■-.,■
• 2. " An Experiment on the disinfection of Typhoid Excreta." By
Dr. John Dougall. • ■» ■
' 3. " On Lichens." By Dr. James Stirton. ' ■<
These gentlemen received the thanks of the Society for their
papers. ' . •*■ •■ ».••»» i
Mr. Wunsch brought under the notice of the Society a circular
from the Geological Society of* Edinburgh, in which it was proposed
to erect,' by subscription, a memorial of a simple kind id the Pass
of Inverfarikaig, to mark the spot where the late Dr.* James Bryce
met his death last year while engaged in geological exploration.
Mr. Wiinsch stated that, as a portion of .the necessary funds had
been already subscribed, a subscription, limited to five shillings
each, from friends in Glasgow would suffice to complete the pro-
posed memorial. On the motion of the Chairman a Subscription
List was opened, and ordered to lie upon the table till next
meeting. ......
March 6, 1878. — Dr. Fergus, President, in the Chair.
• The following was. elected a member of the Society, viz. : —
Mr. W. Kinross White, 9 Fitzrby Place. . ■ " ■
. The following papers were read,* viz. : — » '
1. "On the Safety Lamps at present used in Coal Pits." By
Dr. William Wallace.' r • ■ ' • ■ • ' . . . . «
2. " On a New Gas Regulator." . By Mr. Wm. Foulis, M.I.C.E.
3. "On a Method of Lighting and Extinguishing Street Lamps
by Electricity." By Mr. Mortimer Evan's, C.E., M.S.T.E. (From
the Physical Section.) ' ■ •■ • ■ •> • "
These gentlemen received the thanks of the Society for their
papers. ~ ■ • • * ••■■•• » • > . .
Mr. James R. Napier gave notice of the following motions to be
made at the next meeting of the Society : — * ■ • ■ * r
1. That to Rule IV. of the Constitution the following words be
added — "Members who have paid their Annual' Subscriptions for
twenty years shall be free from further annual payments."
2. That in Rule IV., lines 6 and 7, the words ." One Guinea'
between the words "pay" and.?' as'.9 be. omitted, and the words
" Three Guineas" substituted; and that in line 7 the words " One
222 Philosophical Society of Glasgow.
Guinea" between the words "and" and "in" be omitted, and the
words " Two Guineas " substituted.
3. That in Rule XL, the Clause, " And shall receive such salary
as the Council may determine" be omitted, and the following one
added to the Rule—" There shall be an Assistant-Secretary, whose
salary and duties shall be determined by the Council, subject to the
approval of the Society."
4. That in Rule XIL, between lines 8 and 9, the figure and
words — " 4. Notices of Motions to be read and given to the
Secretary," be inserted, and that the figures "4, 5, and 6," be
changed to " 5, 6, and 7."
March 20, 1878.— Dr. Fergus, President, in the Chair.
The following was elected a member of the Society, viz. : —
Mr. John Kerr, M.A., 73 Grant Street.
The first part of a paper on " Physical Life " was read by Dr.
Andrew Buchanan. The thanks of the Society were awarded to
Dr. Buchanan, and it was arranged that the reading of the second
part of his paper, and a Discussion upon the whole of it, should
form the business of a special meeting of the Biological Section, to
be held on Wednesday, the 27th instant.
In terms of the notice given at the last meeting of the Society,
Mr. Jas. R. Napier moved as follows : —
" That to Rule IV. of the Constitution the following words be
added — Members who have paid their annual subscriptions for
twenty years shall be free from further annual payments."
Mr. John Mayer seconded the motion.
Mr. W. R. W. Smith moved, as an amendment, " That the con-
sideration of the alterations in the rules of the Society, proposed in
Mr. Napier's motions, be referred to the Council."
This amendment was seconded by Mr. Thomas Muir.
Dr. William Wallace moved the previous question, which was
seconded by Mr. Archibald Robertson.
Mr. W. R. W. Smith withdrew his amendment in favour of that
proposed by Dr. Wallace, and the Society voted as follows: — For
Dr. Wallace's amendment, 45; for Mr. Napier's motion, 3.
Mr. Napier then withdrew the remaining three motions of which
he had given notice.
Minutes of Session. 223
Dr. A. K. Irvine gave notice of the following motions for the
next meeting of the Society: —
" That the Society appoint a special committee for the following
purposes:—
" 1. To inquire into the practice of the Society regarding the
reception, reading, and printing of papers.
" 2. To inquire into the functions of the Committee on Papers,
and the manner in which these have recently been discharged."
Also, " That the Secretary be instructed to submit, for the con-
sideration of the special committee, the minutes and correspondence
relating to papers connected with the present Session."
Mr. J. Cleland Burns gave notice of the following motion for the
next meeting of the Society : —
" That a committee of the Philosophical Society be appointed to
take measures towards the Amendment of the Health of Scotland
Act, 1867."
Mr. James It. Napier gave notice of the following motion for next
meeting of the Society: —
" That the rules of debate of the House of Commons, where
applicable, be the rules of debate of the Society."
April 3, 1878. — Dr. Fergus, President, in the Chair.
The following was elected a member of the Society, viz. : —
Mr. William Shaw, 9 Great Western Terrace.
A paper " On the Necessity of a General Measure of Legislation
for Scotland with regard to Public Health," was read by W. C.
Spens, Esq., Advocate, Sheriff-Substitute of Lanarkshire.
The thanks of the Society were awarded to Mr. Spens for his
paper.
On the motion of Mr. John Mayer, the standing orders were
suspended, in order to admit of the Society's dealing with the
Patent Laws.
The draft of a Petition in favour of a Bill now before Parliament
for the Amendment of the Patent Laws, was brought before the
meeting upon the recommendation of the gentlemen who acted last
Session as a Committee on Patents, appointed by the Society on
Jan. 10, 1677. It was moved by Mr. Thomas Muir, seconded by
Mr. James Robertson, and unanimously agreed to, that the Preai-
224 Philosophical Society of Glasgotc,
dent and Secretary be instructed to sign the said Petition in name
of the Society, and have it forwarded to the proper quarter.
The Petition ran as follows : —
Unto the Honourable the Knights, Citizens, and Burgesses
of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ire-
land in Parliament assembled. The Humble Petition
of the Philosophical Society of Glasgow,
Sheweth,
That the Philosophical Society of Glasgow, consisting of
upwards of 700 Members, being persons engaged in the Arts,
Manufactures, Trades, and Commerce of the City of Glasgow and
West of Scotland, have taken a deep interest in the proposed
legislation on the subject of Letters Patent for Inventions, and
have, both at special meetings of the Society and through a special
committee appointed to deal with the subject, given much consider-
ation to the measures for amending the Law of Patents for Inven-
tions brought before Parliament in previous Sessions, and to the
various proposals and suggestions regarding such patents which
have come before them from other sources.
That the Society have had under their consideration a Bill at
present before your Honourable House, entituled " A Bill for the
Amendment of the Patent Laws.'1
That the provisions proposed to be enacted by the said Bill are
provisions such as the Society have approved of by a series of
resolutions extending over many years, and in support of which
they have on several occasions petitioned your Honourable House ;
and the Society do now accordingly beg leave humbly to express
their unanimous and cordial approval of the said Bill.
May it therefore please your Honourable House to pass the said
Bill into Law during this Session of Parliament.
■o
And your Petitioners, as in duty bound, will ever pray.
■■ : . . » ■• • ■ '
At this stage the Chair was vacated by the President and
occupied by Dr. Wallace.
J In terms of the notice given at the last meeting of the Society,
Dr.'A.K. Irvine moved as follows : —
; " That the Society appoint a special committee for the following
purposes : —
\"l.rTo inquire into the practice of the Society regarding the
reception j reading, and printing of papers.
Minutes of Session. 2i:5
a
2. To inquire into the functions of the Committee on Peepers,
and the manner in which these have recently been discharged."
Also, " That the Secretary be instructed to submit, for the con-
sideration of the special committee, the minutes and correspondence
relating to papers connected with the present Session."
Dr. Robert Bell seconded the motion.
The Secretary and other members having spoken with reference
to the circumstances upon which Dr. Irvine based his motion, it
was withdrawn.
Mr. J. Cleland Burns moved : — " That the Sanitary Section of
this Society be authorised to take measures towards the Amend-
ment of the Health of Scotland Act, 1867."
Mr. Thomas Muir seconded the motion.
April 17, 1878.— Dr. Wi. Wallace vn the Chair.
The minutes of last meeting having been read, Mr. John Mayer
drew attention to the fact that they did not bear that the Chair was
vacated in the course of the meeting by the President, and that it
was subsequently occupied by Dr. Wm. Wallace; also, that he had
moved the suspension of the Standing Orders, so as to admit of the
Society's dealing with the Petition on the Patent Laws. He moved
that the minutes be corrected accordingly.
Mr. A. Robertson seconded the motion, and it was agreed to.
Mr. Hunt moved that the minutes be amended in respect of the
following statement therein made regarding the withdrawal of Dr.
Irvine's motion:—
" The Secretary and other members having spoken with reference
to the circumstances upon which Dr. Irvine based his motion, it was
withdrawn;" and that the following sentence be substituted for that
in the minutes : —
" The Secretary and other members spoke with reference to the
occurrences which had given rise to the motions, and a hope was
expressed that such occurrences would not be repeated, after which
Dr. Irvine withdrew the motion in compliance with the general
wish of the meeting."
Dr. A. K. Irvine seconded the motion.
Some discussion having arisen regarding the relevancy of some of
Dr. Irvine's remarks upon the Chairman's action as a member of the
Committee on Papers, Dr. Wallace temporarily vacated the Chair
in favour of Dr. Andrew Buchanan, upon the suggest** of Dr.
Vol. XI. -No. 1. Q
226 Philosophical Society of Glasgow,
Morton. It was ultimately arranged, upon the motion of Mr. Dron,
that the Society, while leaving to Dr. Irvine freedom to bring
forward on another occasion any question or complaint he may have
to make regarding Dr. Wallace's conduct, should regard Mr. Hunt's
motion simply as an amendment of the minutes.
Dr. Wallace then moved, as an amendment upon the motion,
that the minutes be approved of. Mr. W. B. W. Smith seconded
the amendment, which was carried by a large majority.
Upon the motion of Mr. Q. Pringle, Dr. Wallace re-occupied the
Chair.
The following papers were then read: —
1. " On the Constitution of Malt Liquors and their Influence
upon Digestion and Nutrition." By Mr. J. J. Coleman, F.C.S.,
Fellow of the Institute of Chemistry.
2. " Experiments on the Relative Specific Gravities of Solid and
Melted Metals at the Temperature of Fusion." By Joseph Whitley,
Esq. Communicated by Dr. Henry Muirhead.
The thanks of the Society were awarded to the respective authors
of the papers.
Mr. John Mann then gave notice of the following motion, in
name of the Council, to be brought before the Society at the next
meeting : —
"(1.) That the Society be registered under the Companies Acts,
1862, 1867, and 1877, as a company limited by guarantee.
" (2.) That each member undertakes to contribute to the Assets
of the company in the event of the same being wound up during
the time that he is a member, or within one year afterwards, for
payment of the debts and liabilities of the company contracted
before the time at which he ceased to be a member, and of the costs,
charges, and expenses of winding up the company, and for the
adjustment of the rights of the contributories amongst themselves
such amount as may be required, not exceeding five shillings. And,
" (3.) That the Council be, and are hereby, authorised to take the
necessary steps to have these resolutions carried into effect, and to
expend the funds that may be required for so doing."
The following Reports on the proceedings of the Sections during
the Session were given by their respective Secretaries : —
Architectural Section.
The past Session of the Architectural Section of the Philosophical
Society has been one of fair activity.
Minutes of Session. 227
Among the subjects under consideration wero some of great
practical importance, and the full discussion which they underwent
is certain to have an influence far beyond the limits of the
Architectural Section.
The Session began 28th November, 1877, when a new heating
apparatus, devised by Mr. Tait, was exhibited and explained by
him, and Mr. Honeyman, F.R.I.B.A., contributed some valuable
experiences as to whinstone wall building. The subsequent papers
were — " Egyptian Architecture," by Mr. A. L. Miller ; " Concrete,
and how to Use it/1 by Mr. John Macdonald ; " Drainage, Sewage,
Sunk Flats, and Dry Hot," by Mr. James Thomson, LL.D.,
Professor of Civil Engineering in Glasgow University; "Sym-
bolism," by Mr. Andrew Wells'; " Truth in Decoration," by Mr.
S. Adam ; Arrangements necessary for Art Exhibition Halls, by
Mr. John Mossman, Vice-President ; "A New Method of Hanging
Window Sashes," by Mr. Neil Mackay. The thanks of the
Section are due to all these gentlemen; but in an especial degree
to Professor Thomson and Mr. John Macdonald.
In the course of the Session the accounts from 18th March, 1872,
till 15th October, 1877, were submitted by the Treasurer, and
showed the funds to be in a satisfactory condition.
The proportional two-thirds of all Associates' subscriptions
received was ordered to be paid to the Philosophical Society, and
the payment of Library fire insurance premium, which had until
now been met by him was to be discontinued, so as to allow of the
Philosophical Society, who were now responsible for the safe
custody of the books, to take it up.
The Council are glad to be able to say that the names of eight
prospectively useful Associates have been added to the Roll. A
communication from the Royal Institute of British Architects, asking
the Architectural Society to send delegates to the ensuing biennial
conference, was entertained by the Council, who have appointed
Mr. A. L. Miller, Mr. S. Adam, and Mr. D. M'Naughton as their
representatives at the ensuing meeting.
Biological Section.
The Office-bearers'*, of the Biological Section are the same this
year as last year. During the Session papers from the Section
have been read before the Philosophical Society by Mr. James
Thomson, F.G.S., Dr. Stirton, Dr. John Dougall, and Dr. Andrew
Buchanan. — D. C. M'Vail, Secretory.
328 PhiloaopJUcal Society of Glasgow.
Chemical Section.
In consequence of the lateness of commencing the ordinary
meetings of the Society, the first meeting of the Chemical Section
for the past Session was a fortnight later than usual, and was not
Jbeld till the 26th November, 1677. On that occasion the President
#f tike Section, Professor Ferguson, delivered a short opening
address, and Mr. Mactear read a paper on " The Regeneration of
the Sulphur employed in the Alkali Manufacture, as conducted at
SU Bollox by the Mactear Process." At the next meeting, which
was the annual business meeting, Mr. Mactear read another paper,
the subject being "An Improved System of Alkali Manufacture."
On the occasion of the first meeting held after the Christmas recess
(14th January), the Secretary read a paper on " Hy slop's Improved
Process of Regenerating the Lime used in the Purification of Coal
G*s,*8 carried out at the Corporation Gas Works, Paisley, and
Gnesock." This meeting was attended by a number of gas
managers from various parts of the country, most of whom took
pert in the discussion to which the paper gave rise. At the same
meeting Dr. William Ramsay, in conjunction with Mr. James
Dobbie, M.A., Clarke Scholar in Science of the University of
Glasgow,, read a paper on " The Action of various Agents on
Quinine," The next paper was on " The Utilisation of Ammoniacal
Liquors/* by Mr. Gavin Chapman. At subsequent meetings of the
Section papers were read by the President on " Chemical Symbols
«nd Structural Formulae," Parts I. and II. ; by Mr. Mactear, on
" Some of tho Operations involved in carrying out the Provisions
irf the Alkali Acts, 1863 and 1874;" by Professor Dittmar, on
m Laboratory Notes ;" and by Dr. Wallace, on " The Destruction of
ttaGpltaurof Cotton Goods by the Sulphur in the Gas burned in
jfPtfjjpf Warehouses." A paper from the Chemical Section, by
Mr. JL «F. Coleman, on " The Constitution of Malt Liquors, and
ftejr Influence upon Digestion and Nutrition," was read at an
ordinary meeting of the Society, on account of the very general
interest with which the subject treated of was invested.
During the Session the Council devoted their most anxious
attention to the question of the proposed "Graham Medal and
KrftcUm* Fund." Through the active exertions, more especially, of
Mr, flolenan and Mr. Tatlock, the fund has now been raised to
afoot £X0, and the Council have satisfaction in stating that the
wtfttrre hm& been so comprehensively devised that they have every
confidence in expecting a sufficiently large sum of money to be
Minutes of Session. 229
subscribed as to ensure the success of the objects aimed at. The
subject has been officially brought under the notice of the Section
and Council of the Society, and has received their heartiest
approval, and the members generally will doubtless soon have an
opportunity of becoming acquainted with the scheme in all its
leading details. — John Mayer, Secretary.
Sanitary and Social Economy Section.
At a meeting of the Sanitary and Social Economy Section, held
at the opening of the Session, 1877-78, the following Office-bearers
were elected : —
President-^ Dr. J. B. Russell.
Vice-Presidents — Mr. John Ure, Mr. KC.C. Stanford.
Other Members of Council — Mr. Kenneth Macleod, Dr. Amicwm
Fergus, Dr. John Dougall, Dr. Robert Renfrew, Mr. S. 8chuma%
Mr. P. W. Dixon, Mr. Nathaniel Dunlop, Mr. W. P. BuoKan, Mr.
H. K. Bromhead, Mr. Alexander Scott, Mr. W. R. W. Softly the.
Gavin Chapman.
Secretary — Dr. James Christie.
It was also agreed, in accordance with the recommendation of
the Council, that the papers in future, so far as it may be found
convenient, be read before the general meetings of the Society.
On the 19th December, the President delivered the inaugural
address of the Section on " The Comparative Prevalence of Filth
Diseases in Town and Country." A paper from the Section wan
read before a general meeting of the Society by W. C. SpensvEsq,,
Advocate, Sheriff-Substitute of Lanarkshire, on " The Necessity of
a General Measure of Legislation for Scotland with regard to Publie
Health," and a paper on " Pauperism and the Poor Laws," by Mr.
Andrew Wallace, Inspector of Poor, Govan. Two more papers
were offered to the Section, one by Mr. Bromhead, and another By
the Secretary; but owing to the time for reading papers before the
general meetings being fully occupied, no opportunity occurred for
their being read. — James Christie, Secretary.
230
OFFICE-BEARERS
or THB
PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY OP GLASGOW.
SS3SSI02ST 18r7-78.
Dr. Andrew Fergus, M.R.C.S.Eng., President
Mr. James H. Napier, F.R.S., \
Dr. Wm. Wallace, F.R.S.E., F.C.S., I Vice-Presidents.
Dr. Andrew Buchanan, )
Dr. Allen Thomson, LL.D., F.R.S., ^ „
Professor Grant, M.A., LL.D., F.RS., I H™»™y
Prop. Sir Wm. Thomson, LL.D.,D.C.L.,F.R.S., j ™e-/,n»i<fcn6r.
Mr. John Robertson, Librarian.
Mr. John Mann, C.A., Treasurer.
Mr. E. M. Dixon, B.Sc, Secretary.
Mr. Campbell Douglas, I. A., Arc/iilectural]
Section.
Dr. Eben. Watson, M.A., Biological Section.
Professor Ferguson, M.A., Chemical Section.
Mr. James R Napier, F.R.S., Physics and
Engineering Section.
Dr. Jas. B. Russell, B.A., Sanitary and Social
Economy Section.
Other Members of Council.
Mr. Edward A. Wunsch,F.G.S. I Mr. Thos. Muir, M.A., F.R.S.E.
Presidents of
Sections.
Mb. William Dron.
Mr. James Deas, MTnst.CE.
Mr. Archibald Robertson.
profe8sor gairdner, m.d.
Mr. James MacTear, F.C.S.
Mr. James Thomson, F.G.S.
Dr. Henry Muirhead.
Mr. W. R. W. Smith.
Prof. John G. M'Kendrick,
M.D., F.R.S.E.
Mr. John Honeyman, F.R.LB.A.
231
COMMITTEES APPOINTED BY THE COUNCIL
COMMITTEE ON FINANCE,
Dr. A. Fergus, President.
Dr. W. Wallace, Vice-President.
Mr. A. Robertson.
Mr. Jas. Deas.
Mr. W. Dron.
Mr. E. A. Wunsch.
Mr. W. R. W. Smith, Sub-Convener.
Mr. John Mann, Treasurer, Convener.
COMMITTEE ON PAPERS.
Dr. A. Fergus, President.
Mr. Jas. R. Napier, Vice-President
Professor Ferguson.
Dr. J. B. Russell.
Dr. W. "Wallace.
Mr. Jas. Deas.
Mr. Thomas Muir.
Mr. Campbell Douglas.
Dr. Eben. Watson.
Dr. Gairdner.
Dr. M'Kendrick.
Mr. E. M. Dixon, Convener.
COMMITTEE ON THE LIBRARY.
Dr. Andrew Fergus, President.
Dr. A. Buchanan, Vice-President.
Dr. H. Muirhead. Dr. J. B. Russell.
Professor Ferguson.
Mr. E. A. Wunsch.
Mr. Jas. R. Napier.
Mr. Thos. Muir.
Mr. Campbell Douglas.
Mr. Jas. Thomson, F.G.S.
Mr. Jas. Mactear.
Mr. Joiin Robertson, Librarian, Convener.
COMMITTEE ON ACCOMMODATION.
Mr. Jas. Deas.
Mr. John Honeyman.
Mr. A. Robertson.
Mr. W. R. W. Smith.
Mr. W. Dron,
Mr. Campbell Douglas.
Dr. W. Wallace, Convener.
232
OFFICE-BEARERS OF SECTIONS.
ARCHITECTURAL SECTION.
Campbell Douglas, Esq., LA., President.
Mr. James Thomson, I.A., ) VicerPrtM&a8
Ma. John Mossman, Sculptor, /
Mr. James Howat, Hon. Treasurer.
Mr. Matthew Forsyth, LA., Hon. Secretary.
Other Members of Council.
Mr. James Sellars, Jr., LA.
Mr. John Cowan.
Mr. A. Lindsay Millar.
Mr. A. Wells.
Mr. S. Adams.
Mr. D. Thomson, LA.
Mr. S. Honetman, LA.
Mr. H. Barclay, LA.
BIOLOGICAL SECTION.
Dr. Eben. Watson, M.A., President.
Dr. James Stirton, F.L.S., \
Mr. James Thomson, F.G.S. V Vice-Presidents.
Mr. John Robertson, '
Other Members of Council.
Dr. Neil Carmighabl.
Dr. Joseph Goats.
Dr. John Douoall,
Dr. A. K. Irvine.
Mr. D. N. Knox, A.M., M.B.
Mr. David Robertson, F.G.S.
Mr. Thomas Chapman.
Mr. H. E. Clarke, M.R.O.&
Dr. James Finlayson.
Mr. John Kirsop.
Mr. Archibald Robertson.
Dr. Henry Muirhead.
Mr. D. C M'Vail, M.B., Secretary.
SANITABY AND SOCIAL ECONOMY SECTION.
Dr. Russell,
Mr. John XJre,
Mr. EL C. C. Stanford,
\vice.
Presidents.
Office-Bearers of the Society.
233
Other Members of Council.
Mb. K. Macleod.
Dr. Fergus.
Dr. Dougall.
Dr. Renfrew.
Mr. Schuman.
Mr. P. W. Dixon.
Mr. Nathaniel Dunlop.
Mr. W. P. Buchan.
Mr. Bromheao.
Mr. Alexander Scott.
Mr. W. R. W. Smith.
Mr. Chapman.
Dr. Christie, Secretary.
ADDITIONS TO THE LIBRARY.
Donations. Presented by
On the Controlling of the Escapes of Sul-
phur Oases in the Manufacture of Sul-
phuric Acid. By Mr. Jas. Mactear, . Jos. Mactear.
A new Mechanical Furnace used in the
Alkali Manufacture. By Mr. Jas.
Mactearv ...•■• ,,
On the Regeneration of Sulphur employed
in the Alkali Manufacture. By Mr.
Jas. Mactear, ,,
On Improved System of Alkali Manu-
facture. By Mr. Jas. Mactear, ,,
Report on the Air of Glasgow, with Tables
of Wind, Temperature, and Rainfall for
the months of May, June, and August, Town Council of
1877. By Mr. E. M. Dixon, B.Sc, . Glasgow.
Contributions to Meteorology, . Elias Loomis.
On the Expansion of Sea- Water by Heat.
By T. EL Thorpe, Ph.D., and A. W.
Riicker, M.A. Communicated by W.
B. Carpenter, M.D., LL.D., F.R.S.,
4to. Jan. 6, 1876, . . . . T. E. Thorpe.
Transactions of the Cambridge Philo-
sophical Society, Society.
Proceedings of the Cambridge Philo-
sophical Socictyf M
Canadian Journal of Science, Literature,
and History, ,,
Transactions of the Literary and Historical
Society of Quebec, .... ,,
Proceedings of the American Philosophical
Society, „
Glasgow University Calendar for tho Year
1877-78. 12mo College.
Typhoid Fever : its Cause and Prevention,
Illustrated by the Recent Epidemics in
Crosshill and Eaglesham. By Dr.
Eben. Duncan, Dr. E. Duncan.
On Eisenstein's Continued Fractions. By
Thos. Muir, M.A., . . . Thos. Muir.
1 Pamphlet.
tt
1
M
1
M
3
?»
1
♦ t
• t
3 Parts.
»»
1 n
1 *
1 Vol., and
1 Pamphlet
lVoL
1 Pamphlet.
1
#♦
Additions to the Library.
235
Presented by
Thos. Mnir.
Dr. J. B. RusselL
W. J. Millar.
tt
P. Smith.
Lord Lindsay.
J. Cleland Barns.
Donations.
On a Class of Integers expressible as the
sum of Two Integral Squares,
Beport on the Outbreak of Enteric Fever
in West End of Glasgow and Hillhead.
By Dr. J. B. Russell, ....
On Propulsion of Vessels. By Mr. W. J.
Millar,
Studies in Physical Science. By Mr. W.
J.Millar,
Astronomical Observations made at the
Royal Observatory, Edinburgh. Vol.
XIV., for 1870-1877. By Piazzi Smith,
F.R.S.E, F.R.S., F.R.S.S.A., •
Dun Echt Observatory Publications.
Vol. II., Mauritius Expedition, 1874, .
History of the High School of Glasgow, .
Transactions of the National Association
for the Promotion of Social Science.
8vo. Glasgow, 1876, Aberdeen, 1877, Association.
Transactions of the Glasgow Archaeological
Society. 8vo, Society.
Transactions of the Society of Engineers. 8vo,
Proceedings of the American Academy of
Arts and Sciences, 1877,
Proceedings of the American Philosophical
Society, 1876,
Verhandelingen der Eoninklijke Akademie
van Wetenschappen, ....
Verslagen en Mededeelingen der Konink-
lijke Akademie van Wetenschappen
Afdeeling Letterkunde,
Jaarbock van de Koninklijke Akademie
van Wetenschappen, ....
Report by the Deputation appointed by
the Town Council and Board of Police
of Glasgow, to inquire into the Methods
of disposing of Sewage adopted in various Town Council of
Towns in England. Glasgow, 1878.
Proceedings of the Literary and Philo-
sophical Society of Liverpool,
Calendar of the Pharmaceutical Society of
Great Britain for 1878,
The Naturalists' Journal of the Yorkshire
Naturalists' Union and General Field
Club, C. P. Hobkirk,
Royal Institution of Great Britain, . . Institution.
Transactions of the Geological Society of
Glasgow, Society.
»»
t»
t»
Academy.
1*
i »
Glasgow.
Society.
E. Bremridge.
1 Pamphlet.
1
»t
»t
1 Vol.
1 »
i ..
1 ,.
1 Vol.
I Part.
IVoL
t»
tt
tt
2
2 Parte.
1 Vol
1 ••
lPkrt
2 •.
5 ..
ft
»>
ft
I Vol.
4 Parts.
I „
IVoL
12 Parts.
* „
12 „
6 „
12 „
4 „
2 Vols.
236 Philosophical Society of Glasgow.
Donations. Presented try
Minutes of Proceedings of the Institution
of Civil Engineers, .... Institution.
Transactions of the Society of Biblical
Archaeology, Society.
Royal Polytechnic Society, Forty-fifth
Annual Report, „
Bulletin Mensuel de rObservatoire de
Montsouris, 1877, . M. H. Marie Davy.
Journal of the Franklin Institute, . Institute.
Proceedings of the South Wales Institute
of Engineers, „
Transactions of the Odontological Society
of Great Britain, ..... Society.
Journal of the Photographic Society,
Journal of the Chemical Society,
Journal of the Statistical Society, .
British Medical Journal, .Dr. J. P. Cassels.
Proceedings of the Bath Natural History
and Antiquarian Field Club, . . Society. I Part
Forty-fourth Annual Report of the Royal
Cornwall Polytechnic. 8vo. Fal-
mouth, 1876, „ 2 „
Records of the Geological Survey of India, 5 „
Memoirs of the Geological Survey of
India, 4
Pataontologia Indica, .... 3
Minutes of Proceedings of the Institution
of Civil Engineers. Vols. XLVIIL and
XLIX-, Institution. ZVofe.
Transactions of the Royal Irish Academy, Academy. 7 Parts.
Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy . ,, 4 „
Astronomical and Meteorological Observa-
tions for 1873 and 1874. 4to. Wash-
ington, 1877, U.S. Observatory. 3 Vols.
Academy of Natural Science. 8vo.
Philadelphia, 1876 Society. 1 VeL
Canadian Journal 8vo. Toronto, 1877, Institute. 2 Parts;
A Practical Treatise on the Diseases of
the Eye. By Haynes Walton, F.R.C.S.
8vo. London, 1875 H. Walton. 1 VoL
Journal of the Royal Geographical Society,
1876, Society. 1 „
Transactions, Newcastle - upon • Tyne
Chemical Society, „ 1 Part
Narrative of the North Polar Expedition,
U.S. Ship " Polaris,1' Captain Charles
Francis Hall commanding. Washing- U.S. Naval
ton, 1876, Observatory. 1 VoL
»•
Additions to the Library. 237
Donations. Presented by
Proceedings of the Mechanical Engineers
for May, 1377, Institution. 1 Part,
Proceedings of the Berwickshire Natura-
lists' Club, Society. 1 „
Royal Observatory, Brnxellcs. 4to.
Braxelles, M. Quetelek 7 Vols.
Proceedings of the Liverpool Geological
Society, Society. 1 Part
Report on the Orations of the Sanitary
Department for the Four Years ending
30th April, 1877. 8vo. Glasgow, 1877, K. M. Macleod. 1 Vol.
Account of the Proceedings at the Inspec-
tion of the New Hospital for the Treat-
ment of Infectious Diseases, 1S77, • „ I Pamphlet.
Journal of the Anthropological Institute
of Great Britain and Ireland. Part II.
ofVoLVIL, Institute. 1 Part.
Journal of the Statistical Society, . . Society. 4 M
Transactions of the Historic Society of
Lancashire and Cheshire, „ 1 „
Proceedings of the Royal Society, „ 1 „
Mittheilungen des Vereins Fur Erdkunde
zu Hallo a/s., 1877, .... Dr. Lehman. I M
Die Naturgesetze und ihr zusammenhung
mit den Prinzipien der Abstrakten Wis-
senschaften. Von Dr. H. Schenier.
Leipzig, 1877 Dr. H. Seheffler. 2 Vols.
Transactions of the Institution of Engineers
and Shipbuilders in Scotland for 1876-
77. 8vo, Institution. 2 M
List of Elevations. That portion of the
United States West of the Mississippi
River. Fourth Edition, 1877, . . H. V. Hayden. 1 „
Report of the United States Geological
Survey of the Territories, ... m I A 4 Parts.
Zoology and Botany, ... M 1 u
Fossil Vertebrates. 4to. Wash-
ington, 1872, .... „ i M
Proceedings of the Boston Society of
Natural History, Society. 2 Parka.
Annual Report of the Board of Regents
of the Smithsonian Institution. 8va
Washington, 1876 and 1877, . . Institution. IVala.
Notes on the Colony of Victoria, Historical
and Geographical, . H. H. Hajtet ft m
Meteorological and Statistical,
(Victorian Year Book). 8vo.
Melbourne, 1876 and 1877, m 1 •»
238 Philosophical Society of Glasgow.
Donations. Presented by
Statistical Register of the Colony of
Victoria, H. H. Hayter.
Verslagen en Mededeelingen der Konink-
lijke Akademie van Wetenschappen.
Vol VL, 1877 Academy.
Verhandelingen der Koninklijke Akademie
Tan Wetenschappen, .... „
Proceedings of the American Pharmaceuti-
cal Association. 8vo. Philadelphia, 1877, Association.
Bnffalo Society of Natural Sciences, Society.
Proceedings of the Davenport Academy of
Natural Sciences, „
Journal of the Anthropological Institute, Institute.
Annuaire de l'Observatoire Royal de
Bruxelles, 1876 and 1877, . . L. A. J. Quetelet
Esssi sur la Vie et les Ouvrages de
L. A. J. Quetelet. Par fid. Mailly.
Bruxelles, 1875, „
Annales de l'Observatoire Royal de
Bruxelles. Vols. XXIII., XXIV., and
XXV. From 1874 to 1877,
Memoire sur la Temperature de l'Air a
Bruxelles, 1833-1872, .... „
Greenwich Observations: Astronomical,
Magnetical, and Meteorological Obser-
vations, Astronomer-Royal.
Greenwich Magnetical and Meteorological
Results, 1875,
Greenwich: Results of Astronomical Obser-
vations made at the Royal Observatory,
Cape of Good Hope, during the year
1874. Edward James Stone, M.A.
Camb., P.R.S., F.R.A.S., • ,,
Greenwich: Observations made at the
Royal Observatory in the year 1875, . „
Leeds Philosophical and Literary Society, Society.
The Worth of life : An Address delivered
at the Opening of the 58th Session of
the Society, „
Proceedings of the Bristol Naturalists'
Society,
North of England Institute of Mining and
Mechanical Engineers, „
Transactions and Proceedings of the
Botanical Society of Edinburgh, . „
Proceedings of the Royal Society of
Edinburgh, „
Transactions of the Connecticut Academy, „
6 Parts.
1 Vol.
2 „
1 „
1 Part
1 VoL
iPart
2 Vols.
1 „
3 „
1 Pamphlet.
IPart
1 .,
1 „
1 „
1 Vol.
IPart
4 „
1 ,.
Exchanges with other Societies. 239
The Philosophical Society Exchanges with the
following Societies: —
Anthropological Society, London.
Academy of Science, Philadelphia.
American Philosophical Society, „
An Bureau Scientifique Central Neerlandais, . Harlem.
Astronomer-Royal, Melbourne.
American Institute, New York.
Academy of Science, Missouri
American Academy, Boston.
Biblical Archaeology, London,
Botanical Society of Edinburgh, Edinburgh.
Boston Natural History Society, Boston.
Berwickshire Naturalists' Club, Alnwick.
Bristol Naturalists' Club, Bristol.
Chemical Society, London.
Commissioners of Patents, Washington.
Cleveland Institution of Engineers, .... Middlesborough,
Canadian Institute, Canada.
California Academy, California.
Die Deutsche Chemische Gesellschaft, .... Berlin.
Dublin University Biological Association, Dublin.
E. B. Reed, Barrister-at-law, London, .... Ontario.
Edinburgh Geological Society, Edinburgh.
Franklin Institute Philadelphia.
Glasgow Archaeological Society, Glasgow.
Geological Society of Liverpool, Liverpool.
Geological Society of Glasgow, Glasgow.
Geological Survey Office, Calcutta.
Geological Survey of Canada, Montreal
Historic Society of Lancashire and Cheshire, . Liverpool.
Historic Society, Quebec.
Institution of Mechanical Engineers, .... Birmingham.
Institution of Engineers and Shipbuilders in Scotland, . Glasgow.
Institution of Engineers, London.
Literary and Philosophical Society of Liverpool, . Liverpool.
,, „ „ Manchester, . . Manchester.
,, ,, „ Leeds, ... l^eos.
Lyceum of Natural History, New York.
La Socigte' des Sciences Physique et Naturelles, Bordeaux.
Midland Institute of Mining Engineers, .... Barnsley.
National Academy, Washington.
National Observatory, »
Natural History Society, Glasgow.
New Zealand Institute, New Zealand.
New York Agricultural Society New York.
North of England Institute of Mining Engineers, . . Newcastle-ou-Tyne.
H
-M
1»
M
240 Philosophical Society of Glasgow.
Natural History Society, Portland, Maine.
Odontological Society, London,
Orleans County Society of Natural Science*, . Vermont
Publisher of Engineering, London.
Pharmaceutical Society,
Photographic Society,
Pharmaceutical Society, Philadelphia.
Philosophical Society of Cambridge, .... Cambridge.
Powys Land Club, Liverpool
Royal Institute of British Architects, .... T^fl^n
Royal Society of London,
Royal Institution of Great Britain, ....
Royal Society of Edinburgh, Edinburgh.
Royal Physical Society of Edinburgh, ....
Royal Scottish Society of Arts,
Royal Cornwall Polytechnic Society, .... Falmouth.
Royal Society of Victoria, Melbourne.
Royal Academy of Science, Berlin.
Royal Academy of Science, Brussels.
Royal Academy of Science, Sfrn?frhfllin
Royal Academy of Science, St Louis.
Royal Academy, Amrt*Ham
Royal Academy of Sciences, „
Royal Institute of Lombardy, Milan.
Royal Geographical Society, Vienna.
Royal Institution of Cornwall, Truro.
Registrar-General, Melbourne.
Society of Arts, London.
Statistical Society, „
Scottish Meteorological Society, Edinburgh.
Smithsonian Institution, Washington.
South Wales Institute of Engineers, .... Swansea.
Society of Physical Science, Bordeaux.
The Meteorological Observatory, Montsouria, Paris.
United States Observatory, Washington.
United States Survey, „
University of Christiania, Chrifltisiria
Watford Natural History Society, Watford.
BOOKS BOUGHT.
A Practical Treatise on the Manufacture of Paper in all its Branches. By Oarl
Hofmann. 1 vol. 4to. Philadelphia, 1873.
A Manual of Inorganic Chemistry. VoL I., The Non-Metab. Bj T. E. Thorpe,
Ph.D., F.R.S. 12mo. London and Glasgow, 1877.
A Manual of Inorganic Chemistry. VoL IL, The Msftais. By T. E. Thorpe,
Ph.D., F.R.S. 12mo. London and Glasgow.
Additions to tlw Library. '1 [ \
L' Annuo Scientifique et Industrielle. Par Louis Figuier. Tables des 20 Premiers
volumes, 1857—1877. 12mo. Paris, 1877.
The Zoological Record for 1875. VoL XII. of the Record of Zoological Litera-
ture. Edited by Edward Caldwell Rye, F.Z.S., M.E.S. 8vo. London,
1877.
Reliquko Aquitanicae ; being Contributions to the Archaeology and Palaeontology
of Perigord and the adjoining Provinces of Southern France. By Edouard
Lartel and Henry Christy. Edited by Thomas Rupert Jones, F.R.8.,
F.G.S., &c. 4 to. London.
Encyclopaedia Britannica. Vols. VL and VII. The Ninth Edition. :
Memoirs of the Geological Survey, Scotland. Text-Book and Plates. Svo.
Edinburgh, 1872.
Accidents in Mines : their Causes and Prevention. By Alan Bagot 8vo.
London, 1878.
Science Lectures at South Kensington. Vol. I., Svo. London, 1878.
Industrial Chemistry : a Manual for use in Technical Colleges or Schools, and
for Manufacturers, &c. By B. H. Paul, Ph.D. 8vo. London, 1878.
A Treatise on the Kinetic Theory of Gases. By Henry William Watson, M. A.
8vo. Oxford, 1876.
Organic Chemistry. By Henry Armstrong, Ph.D., F.C.S. London, 1874.
Inorganic Chemistry. By W. Allen Miller, M.D., D.C.S., LL.D. London, 1878.
Metals ; their Properties and Treatment. By Charles Loudon Bloxam. London,
1876.
Telegraphy. By W. H. Preece, C.E., and J. Sivewright, M.A. London, 187a
Elements of Machine Design. By W. Cawthorne Unwin. London, 1878.
The Art of Electro-Metallurgy. By G. Gore. LL.D., F.R.S. London, 1877.
Railway Appliances. By John Wolfe Barry. London, 1876.
Essays ; Endowment of Research. By Various Writers. London, 1876.
The Elements of Mechanism. By T. M. Goodeve, M.A. London, 1876.
The Principles of Mechanics. By T. M. Goodeve, M.A. London, 1876.
Introduction to the Study of Chemical Philosophy. By William A. Tildcn,
D. Sc. Lond. , F. C. S. London, 1876.
Strength of Materials and Structures. By John Anderson, C.E., LL.D.,
F.R.S.E. London, 1872.
Electricity and Magnetism. By Fleming Jenkins, F.R.S.S.L.&E., M.I.C.E.
London, 1873.
Theory of Heat. By J. Clerk Maxwell, M.A., LL.D.Edin., F.R.S.S.L&E.
London, 1871.
Structural and Physiological Botany. By Otto W. ThomG. Translated and
Edited by Alfred W. Bennett, M.A., B.Sc, F.L.S. London, 1877.
Manchester Science Lectures. Eight Series, from 1866 to 1876.
A Treatise of the Origin, Nature, and Varieties of Wine: being a complete
Manual of Viticulture and /Enoiogy. By J. L. W. Thudichum, M.D., and
August Dupr6, Ph.D. 8vo. London and New York, 1872.
American Addresses, with a Lecture on the Study of Biology. By Thomas II.
Huxley. Svo. London, 1877.
The History, Products, and Processes of the Alkali Trade, including the most
Recent Improvements. By Charles Thomas Kingzett (Consulting Chemist),
with 23 Illustrations. Svo. London, 1877.
Vol. XI.— No. 1. R
242 Philosophical Society of Glasgow.
Mind and Body. By Alexander Bain, LL.D.
Fungi. By M. C. Cooke, M. A., LL.D.
Optioi and Light. By Dr. Eugene LommeL
The Study of Sociology. By Herbert Spencer.
Responsibility in Mental Disease. By Henry Maudatey, M.D.
On Fermentation. By P. Schutzenberger.
A New Treatise on Steam Engineering. By John W. Nystrom, C.EL 8vo.
Philadelphia and London, 1878.
Text-Books of Science.— Workshop Appliances. By C. P. B. Shelley, C.E.
12mo. London, 1877.
Text-Books of Science.— A Treatise on Photography. By W. de Wivekalie
Abney, F.R.S. 12mo. London, 1878.
Recensionen von Friedrich Wilhelm BesseL Heransgegeben von Budolf
Engelmann, Dr. PhiL 8vo. Leipzig, 1878.
Studies in Spectrum Analysis. By Norman Lockyer. 12mo. London, 1878.
The Physical Geology and Geography of Ireland. By Edward Hull, M.A.,
F.R.S. 8vo. London, 1878.
Canadian Entomologist Vols. I., IL, and IV.
Revue Universelle des Mines, de la Metallurgie, &c. Vols. I. and IL for 1877.
The Theory of Screws. By Robert S. Ball, LL.D. 8vo. Dublin, 1876.
Sketch of Thermodynamics. By P. G. Tait, M.A. 12mo. Edinburgh, 1877.
Association Francaise pour l'Avancement des Sciences— Compte-Rendus de la
5s* Session. Clermont-Ferrand, 1876.
Analysis of Tea, Coffee, and Cocoa. By J. Alfred Wanklyn. London, 1874.
Analysis of Milk. By J. Alfred Wanklyn. London, 1874.
A Text-Book of Physiology. By M. Foster, M.A., M.D., F.R.S. 8vo.
London, 1878.
Mont Blanc: a Treatise on its Geodesical and Geological Constitution, its
Transformations, and the Ancient and Recent State of its Glaciers. By
Eugene Viollet-Le-Duc. 8vo. London, 1877.
Science Papers ; chiefly Pharmacological and Botanical. By Daniel Hanbury,
F.R.S. Edited, with Memoir, by Joseph Inoe, F.L.S., F.C.S. 8vo.
London, 1876.
Manual of Naval Architecture: for the use of Officers of the Royal Navy,
Officers of the Mercantile Marine, Shipbuilders, and Shipowners. By
W. H. White. 8vo. London, 1877.
The Voyage of the " Challenger : " the Atlantic, a Preliminary Account of the
General Results of the Exploring Voyage of H. M.S. " Challenger" during
the Year 1873 and the early part of the Year 1876. By Sir C. Wyville
Thomson, Kt, LL.D., D.Sc, F.R.S.S.L.&E.,F.C.S., F.G.S., Ac 2 vols.,
8vo. London, 1877.
Sanitary Engineering. By J. Bailey Denton, F.G.S., M.Inst C.E. 8vo.
London, 1877.
Manual of the Anatomy of Invertebrated Animals. By Thomas H. Huxley,
LL.D., F.R.S. 12mo. London, 1877.
Anthracen : its Constitution, Properties, Manufacture, and Derivatives, includ-
ing Artificial Alizarin, Anthrapurpurin, &c, with their applications in
Dyeing and Printing. By G. Auerbaoh. Translated by William Crookes,
F.R.S., Ac. 8vo. London, 1877.
Additions to the Library. 343
Jahres-Bericht ttber die leistungen der Chemischen Technologie mit besondtrtr
Berucksichtigung der Gewerbestatistik for die Jahr 1876. Von Rudolf V.
Wagner. 7 vols, from 1870 to 1876. 8vo. Leipsig, 1877.
Narrative of a Voyage to the Polar Sea daring 1875-76 in H.M. Shipt " Alert *
and "Discovery." By Capt. Sir G. S. Nares, R.N., K.C.B., F.R.&,
Gommander of the Expedition. Edited by H. W.Feilden, F.G.8.,C.M.a8.,
F.R.G.S. 2 vols., 8vo. London, 1878.
Bulletin de la SociCte1 Geologique de France, 1872-76. 4 Yols.
Palaeontographical Society. 7 parte.
The Analytical Theory of Heat By Joseph Fourier. Translated, with Notes,
by Alexander Freeman, M.A. 8vo. Cambridge, 1878.
The Scottish Naturalist Edited by F. Buchanan White, M.D., F.L.8.
4 vols.
The Freedom of Science in the Modern State. By Rudolf Virchow, M.D.
12mo. London, 1878.
The Clydesdale Flora ; a Description of the Flowering Plants and Ferns of the
Clyde District By the late Roger Hennedy. 12mo. Glasgow, 1878.
British Manufacturing Industries : —
Vol. V. — Mining, Metals, Chemicals, Ceramics, Glass, Paper.
VI.— Textiles, Clothing, Food, Sundry Industries.
VII.— Guns, Nails, Locks — Woodscrews, Railway Bolts and 8pikes,
Buttons, Pins — Needles, Saddlery, Electro-plate, Pens,
Papier Mache*.
VIII.— Acids and Alkalies, Oils and Candles, Gas and lighting.
IX.— Wool, Flax and linen, Cotton, Silk.
„ X. — Shipbuilding, Telegraphs, Agricultural Machinery, Railways
and Tramways.
XL — Jewellery, Gold Working, Watches and Clocks, Musical Instru-
ments and Cutlery.
XII.— Salt, Preserved Provisions, Bread, Sugar Refining, Butter and
Cheese, Brewing and Distilling.
,, XIII. — The Industrial Classes and Industrial Statistics. 2 vols.
Elements of the Method of Least Squares. By Mansfield Merriman, Ph.D.
London, 1877.
Journal of Botany, British and Foreign. Edited by Berthold Seaman, Ph.D.,
F.L.S. 4 vols., 8vo. London, 1863-66.
Kinematics of Machinery ; Outlines of a Theory of Machines. By F. Rouleaux.
Translated and Edited by Alex. B. W. Kennedy, C.E. 8vo. London,
1876.
Stanford's Compendium of Geography and Travel in Africa. Edited and
extended by Keith Johnston, with Ethnological Appendix by A. H. Kea&e,
B.A. 8vo. London, 1878.
Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. 2 vols., for 1876
and 1876. 1 part of Vol. CLXVIL
Elements of Agricultural Chemistry and Geology. By the late I*rofeasor
J. F. W. Johnston, F.R.S., Ac, of Durham, and Charles A. Cameron, M.D.,
F. R. C. S. L 10th' Edition. Edinburgh and London, 1877.
The Statesman's Year Book; Statistical and Historical Annual of the States of
the Civilised World. 8vo. 1878.
it
»»
>»
>»
2*4
Philosophical Society oj Gla&goxc.
Education Department. Reports on the Philadelphia International Exhibition
, of 1876. 2 vols., 8vo. London, 1877.
Theory of the Foreign Exchanges. By the Right Hon. George J. Goschen, M. P.
9th Edition. 8vo. London, 1876.
The Geological Record for 1875. An Account of Works on Geology, Mineralogy,
and Palaeontology published daring the Year. Edited by William Whitakcr,
RA., P.G.S. 8vo. London, 1877.
Kongliga Svenska Vetenskaps-Akademiens Handlingar, for 1874 and 187.r>.
1 vol Amsterdam Society.
Meteorologiska Jakttagclser I. Sverige Utgifha af Kongl. Svenska Vctenskaps-
Akademien. 1873.
Ofrersigt af Kongl. Vetenskaps-Akademiens Forhandlingar.
Bihang till Kongl. Svenska Vetenskaps-Akademiens Ilandlingar.
LIST OP PERIODICALS.
Weekly.
Academy.
Architect.
Athenaeum.
Builder.
Building News.
British Architect.
British Medical Journal.
Chemical News.
Comptes Rendu s.
Engineer.
Engineering.
Iron.
Journal of the Society of Arts.
Nature.
Notes and Queries.
Pharmaceutical Journal.
Fortnightly.
Berichte der Deutschen Chemischen
Gesellschaft.
Journal fur Praktische Chemic.
Polytechnisches Journal
Telegraphic Journal.
Monthly.
American Journal of Science and Arts.
Analyst.
Annals and Magazine of Natural His-
tory.
Annalen der Physik und Chemie.
Annales des Sciences Naturelles
Zoologie.
Annales de Chimie et de Physique.
Annalen der Chemie.
Annales des Sciences Naturelles
Botaniqne.
Bulletin do la SociGte d'Encouracre-
ment
Bulletin do la Society Chimiqno de
Paris.
Bulletin Mensuel de TObservatorie de
Montsouris.
Chemische Industrie.
Entomologist.
Entomologist, Midland Naturalist.
Microscopic Journal.
Monatobericht der Koniglich Preus-
sischen Akadcmieder Wissenschaftcn
zu Berlin.
Geographical Magazine.
Geological Magazine.
Hardwickc'8 Science Gossip.
Journal of the Chemical Society.
Journal of Botany.
Journal de Pharmacie et de Chimie.
London, Edinburgh, and Dublin Philo-
sophical Magazine.
■ Sanitary Journal.
Zoologist:
Additions to the Library.
2«
Quarterly.
Annates dea Mines.
Bulletin de la Soci6t6 Industrielle de
Mulhousc.
Journal of the Scottish Meteorological
Society.
Mind: A Quarterly Review of Psy-
* chology and Philosophy.
Popular Science Review.
Quarterly Journal of Geological
Society.
Quarterly Journal of Microscopical
Science.
Quarterly Journal of Ornithology.
Quarterly Journal of Pure and Applied
Mathematics.
Scottish Naturalist
Zcitschrift fur Analytiache Chemia.
LIST OF MEMBERS
OF THE
PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY OF GLASGOW.
WITH YEAR OF ENTRY.
* Denotes Life Members.
HONORARY MEMBERS.
FORKIGX.
Elected in i860— M. Chevrenl, Paris.
— i860 — M. Dumas, Paris.
— i860— Professor H. Helmholtz,
Heidelberg.
— i860— Professor Albert KoUiker,
Wurtzburg.
— 1 860— Professor W. Weber, Leipzig.
— 1874 — Robert Lewis John Ellery,
Esq., F.R.A.S., Victoria.
American.
Elected in i860— Prof. James D. Dana, Tale
College, Connecticut.
— i860— Prof. Loomis, New York.
British.
Elected in 1850— Prof. Balfour, M.D., F.R.S.,
Edinburgh.
— i860— Dr. J. P. Joule, Manchester.
— i860— Gen. Sabine, R.A., London.
— 1874— Prof. A. C Ramsay, LL.D.,
F.R.S., London.
— 1874— Sir Joseph D. Hooker, C. B. ;
K. C.S.I. ; F.R.S., Lon-
don.
— 1874— Dr. R. A. Smith, F.R.S.,
F.C.S., Manchester.
— 1875— Wm. Fronde, C.E., F.R.S.,
Chelston Cross, Torquay.
— • 1876— Prof. Thos. Henry Huxley,
Ph.D., LL.D., Sec. R.S.,
F.L.S., F.G.S.
CORRESPONDING MEMBERS.
Elected in 1874— Rev.H.W.Crosskey,F.G.S.,
Edgbaston, Birmingham.
— 1874— Robt Gray, F.R.S.E., Bank
of Scotland, Edinburgh.
— 1874— Prof. A. S. Herschel, B.A.,
F. R. A.S., 16 SariUe Row,
Newcastle-on-Tyne.
__ 1874— Thomas E. Thorpe, Ph.D.,
F.R.S.E., Professor of
Chemistry, Leeds.
ORDINARY MEMBERS.
Buchanan, Andrew, M.D., 186 Bath
street, Vice-President. 1833
Hart, Robt,Cessnock Park, Goran rd. 1820
(The above are Original Members.)
Adam, William, 296 Renfrew street 1876
Adams, James, 9 Royal crescent 1874
5 Addie, John, 144 St Vincent street 186 1
Alexander, James, J un., 153 St Vin-
cent street 1870
Alexander, Thos., 8 Sardinia terrace. 1869
Alexander, Jaa. W., 3 Fitzroy pi. 1876
Anderson, Alexander, 1 14 Trongate. 1869
10 Anderson, David H., Atlantic Mills,
Bridgeton. 1875
Anderson, Geo., M.P., Western Club. 1856
Anderson, John, 48 Dundas street 1 87 1
Anderson, John, Bank of Scotland,
Glasgow. 1873
Anderson, T. M'Call, M.D., Professor
of Clinical Medicine in the Univer-
sity of Glasgow, 14 Woodside cres. 1873
15 Armstrong, Wm. J., 3 Royal Ex-
change court 1 87 1
Arnot, James Craig, 162 St. Vincent
street 1869
Arrol, Archibald, 16 Dixon street 1869
Arrol, Walter, 16 Dixon street 1869
Arrol, William A., 16 Dixon street 1869
20 Arthur, Allan, 7 Alfred terrace, Gt
Western road. 1869
Arthur, William Baa, 1 Crown
gardens, DowanhilL. 1850
Anchterlonie, Thomas B., Bellfield,
Kirkintilloch. 9
Bain, Sir James, F.R.B.E., 3 Park
terrace. 1866
Bain, Robert, 22 Dundas street 1869
25 Baird, Alex. Smith, 26 Sardinia ter-
race, Hillhead. 1870
Baird, William, 66 Robertson street 1875
Baldfe, Robert, I.A., 83 Bath street 1870
Ball, Henry W., Cranstonhili Engino
Works. 1875
Balloch, Robert, 88 Union street. 1843
248
Philosophical Society of Glasgow.
30 Bankier, W. D., 31 St. Vincent place. 1874
Bannatyne, Mark, 145 W. George st 1872
Barclay, James, 36 Windsor terrace. 1872
Barr, t. M., C.E., 16 Dalhouaie st 1869
Barron, James F., 226 Sauchiehall at 1 876
35 Baxter, Wm., 14 Gibson St., Hillhead. 1873
Bayne A. Mai loch, 32 India street 1878
Beckett, John, 16 St. Vincent place. 1872
Bell, George, I. A., 212 St. Vincent
street 1S70
Bell, H., 172 Argyle street 1876
40 Bell, James, 41 Mitchell street. 1843
Bell, James, 32 Elmbank crescent. 1877
Bell, Robt, M.D., F.F.P.S.G. and
Ed., 29 Lynedoch street. 1869
Beveridge, James, 81 Gloucester at. 1877
Binnie, J., 6 Crown gar., Dowanhill. 1877
45 Bird, Gregory, 8 Berkeley terrace. 1866
Black, D.Campbell,M.D.,M.R.C.S.E.,
50 Woodlands road. 1872
Black, John, 16 Park terrace. 1869
Black, J. Albert, 7 Newton place. 1869
Blackie, Robert, 17 Stanhope street 1847
50 Blackie, W. G., Ph.D., F.R.G.S., 17
Stanhope street 1 84 1
Blair, G. M'Lellan, 2 Lilvbank ter. 1869
Blair, J. M'Lellan, 8 Cecil pi., Paisley
road. 1869
Bost, Timothy, 33 Renfield street. 1876
Boucher, J., I.A., 217 W. George st 1870
55 Bowie, Campbell T., 26 Both well st. 1870
Boyd, John, Shettleston Iron Works,
near Glasgow. 1873
Boyd, Wm., Blythswood Foundry,
61 North street. 1852
Brodie, John Ewan, M.D., CM., 20
Sandy ford place. 1873
Bromhead, Horatio K.y A.B.I.B.A.,
245 St. Vincent street. 1870
60 Broom, William, 182 Hope street. 1852
Brown, James, 76 St Vincent st. 1876
Brown, James F., 1 Annfield place,
Dennistoun. 1877
Brown, John, 96 Buchanan street. 1874
Brown, Nicol, 21 Hope street. 1869
65 Brown, Richard, Eglinton Chemical
Co., 31 St Vincent street. 1855
Brown, Robert Langton, 68 Bath st. 1875
Brownlee, J as., 23 Burn bank gardens, i860
Brownlee, Thomas, Springbank Villa,
Lenzie. 1872
Brownlie, James, Victoria Saw Mills. 1877
70 Brownlie, John, 2 Oakley terrace. 1874
Bruce, John Inglis, 62 Robertson st. 1869
Bruce, John L., 184 West Regent st 1873
Bryce, David, 129' Buchanan street 1872
Bry den, Robt. A.,I.A.,I5 Dalhousiest 1870
75 Buchan, William P., 83 Renfrew st 1875
Bnchanan, Alex. M., A.M., M.D.,
Professor of Anatomy in Ander-
son's College, 201 St George's
road. 1S76
Buchanan, George, M.D., Professor
of Clinical Surgery in the Univer-
sity of Glasgow, 193 Hath street. 1875
Buchanan, Geo. S., 95 Candleriggs. 1845
Buchanan, James, 389 Parliamen-
tary road. 1S77
80 Buchanan, Laurence B., 190 West
George street 1876
Buchanan, R. M., 2 Albion place,
Byars road, Hillhead. 1872
Buchanan, Wm. L., 212 St. Vin-
cent street. 1873
Burnet, John, 167 St. Vincent st. 1850
Burns, J., M.D., 15 Fitzroy place,
Sauchiehall street 1864
85 Burns, J. Cleland, Ochtertyre, Crieff. 1 874
Byers, A. Stewart, Cartside Works,
"Paisley. 1870
Cameron, Chas.,M.D., LL.D., M.P.,
104 Union street. 1870
Cameron, Duncan, 8S West Nile st. 1875
Cameron, H.C., M.D., 27 Elmbank
crescent 1873
90 Cameron, R, 1 N. Claremont st 1873
Campbell, J. A., LL.D., 29 Ingram
street 1S48
Campbell, John D., 5 Derby terrace,
Sandy ford. 1 858
Carlile,*Thomas, 23 West Nile street 1 85 1
Carlton, Charles, 141 St Vincent st 1870
95 Carmichael, Neil, M.D., CM., 32
Abbotsford place. 1873
Carrick, James, 205 Buchanan st. 1862
Carrickf John, City Architect, 74
Hutcbeson street. 1846
Cassels, Robert, 166 St Vincent st. 1858
Cassells, J. P., M.D., 2 Newton ter. 1874
100 Chalmers, John, 251 Renfrew street 1871
Chapman, Thomas, 56 Buchanan 8L1849
Christie, James, A.M., M.D.,
F.F.P.S.G., 2 Great Kelvin
terrace, Bank street, Hillhead, 1S76
Christie, John, Turkey-red Works,
Alexandria, Dumbartonshire. 1868
Church, James, 88 Renfield street. 1867
105 Church, Wm., jun., 67 St Vincent
street 1 855
Clapperton, John, 5 Sandy ford pi. 1874
•Clark, G. W., Dumbreck House. 1877
Clark, Henry E., L.R.C.S. Eng.,
9 Elmbank street. 1S76
Clark, John, Ph.D., 138 Bath st 1S70
HO Clark, John, 9 Wilton crescent. 1872
•Clark, Wm., Mile-end. 1876
Clavering, Thos., 21 St Vincent pi. 1856
Clinkskill, J as., 1 Holland place. 1868
Clouston, Peter, I Park terrace. 1861
115 Coats, Joseph, M.D., 33 Elmbank
street 1873
•Cochran, Robert, 7 Crown circus,
Dowanhill. 1877
List of Members.
249
Coghiil, Win. C, 263 Argyle street 1873
Coleman, J. J., F.C.S., 13 Dundas
street 1869
Collier, William F., LL.D., 12 Bel-
mont crescent, Gt Western road. 1870
120 Collins, Wm., 3 Park terrace, Kast 1869
Colquhoun, Hugh, M.D., Anchor-
age, Both well. 1842
Colquhoun, J as., 158 St Vincent at 1 876
Colvil, John, 62 St Vincent street 1877
Combe, George J as., 34 Dundas st. 1877
225 Combe, William, 22 Dundas street. 1877
Connal, Michael, Virginia buildings. 1848
Connell, James, 182 Crookston st 11870
Connell, Robert, M.D., 2 Royai
crescent, West 1872
Connell, Wm.,38 St. Enoch square, 1870
130 Copeland, J as., 1 Thornhill terrace,
UUlhead. i860
Copland, William R,M. Inst. C.E.,
83 West Regent street 1876
Coubrough, A. Sykes, Blanefield,
Strathblane. 1869
Couper, James, Craigforth House,
Stirling. 1862
Couper, James, 37 Lansdowne cres.1878
135 Couper, Wm., 9 Huntly gardens,
Hillhead. 1873
Cowan, J. B., M.D., Professor of
Materia Medica in the University
of Glasgow, 159 Bath street 1867
Cowan, John, 4 Derby street. 1870
Cowan, M'Taggart, C.E., 27 Ashton
terrace, Hillhead. 1876
Crawford, Andw., 339 Dumbarton
road. 1S75
140 Crawford, David, Jun., 20 Tureen
street, Calton. 1873
Crawford, W. B., 104 W. Begent
street 1872
Crawford, William C, M. A., Eagle
Foundry. 1869
Cree, Thomas S., 17 Exchange sq. 1869
Cross, David, 25 Park circus 1850
145 Gumming, J. Simpson, M.D., 310
St Vincent street 1874
Cunliff, Richard S., 175 W. George
street 1833
'Cuthbertson, John N., 29 Bath st. 1850
Dansken, A. B., 102 Bath st. 1877
*J)ansken, John, 102 Bath street 1876
150 Darling, Geo. E., 247 W. George sti870
Davidson, J., Gas Manager, Mary hill. 1874
Davidson, T., Jun., 33 Garngad hill. 1872
Day,StJohnVincent,C.E.,F.R.S.E.,
115 St. Vincent street 1S66
Deas, Jas., C.E., 7 Crown gardens,
Dowanhill. 1869
155 Dempster, John, 33 Abbotsford pi. 1S75
Dennison, Wm., C.E., Land Sur-
veyor, 175 Hope street 1876
Dewar, Duncan, Kirkhill, Cambcuv*
lang. 1877
Dick-Cleland, A. B., 76 Milton st 1871
Dickson, James, 23 Monteith row. 187 1
1 60 Dittmar, W., F. R. S. E. , Professor of
Chemistry, Anderson's College. 1875
Dixon, A. Dow, 10 Montgomerie
crescent, Hillhead. 1873
Dixon, Edward M., B.Sc, 1 1 Hope-
tonn place, Secretary. i860
Dixon, Joseph Anthony, 175 W.
George street 1870
Dixon, Peter W., 19 Elmbank eras. 1 871
165 Dodds, Rev. James, 1 5 Sandyford pi 1876
Donald, John, Thomson st Public
School. 1872
Donald, William J. A., WhiteUw
Cottage, BothwelL 1877
Donaldson, Alex., 26 Renfiold st 1 865
Dougall, Franc Gibb, 167 Canning
street 1875
170 Dougall, John, M.D., F.F.P.S.,
Lecturer on Materia Medica in the
Glasgow Royal Infirmary School
of Medicine, 2 Cecil pi., Paisley
road. 1876
Douglas, Campbell, I. A., 266 St
Vincent street 1S70
Douglas, Wm., 22 W. Nile street 1874
Douie, Robert, 170 Hope street 1869
Downie, James, 9 S. Frederick st 1872
175 Downie, Robert, Jun., Carntyne
Dye-works, Parkhead. 1 872
Drew, Alex., 149 West George st 1869
Dron, William, Cranstonhill. 1873
Dry burgh, Jas. N., 7 Matilda ten,
Strathbungo. 1872
Duncan,Eben.,M.D.,C.M.,F.F.P.S.G.,
4 Royal crescent, Crosshill. 1 873
1 80* Duncan, Robert, Engineer, Partick
Foundry. 1875
Duncan, William, Coltness Iron Co.,
124 St. Vincent street. 1865
Dunlop, Archibald, 18 Royal ter. 1877
Dunlop, Nathaniel, 1 Montgomery
crescent, Great Western road. 1870
Dunn, John S.,Rockvilla Saw Mills,
Port-Dundas. 1876
185 Dunn, Robert Hunter, 4 Belmont
crescent 1878
Evans, Mortimer, C.E., F.G.S., 97
West Regent street 1873
Easton, . William J., 150 West
Regent street. 1876
Fairlie,Colln B.,C.E., 67 Renfieldst 1874
Fairlie, J. M., Charing Cross Corner. 1874
190 Falconer, Patrick, 11 Both well pL,
Hillhead. 1876
Farquhar, John, Tower Bank,
Lenzie. 1872
250
Philosophical Society of Glasgow.
Fergus, Andw.,M.D.,M.R.C.S.Eng.,
41 Klmbank street, President. 1868
Ferguson, John, M.A., Professor of
Chemistry, University of Glasgow. 1869
Ferguson, Peter, 12 Markland ter.,
Wilson street, Hillhead. 1866
195 Ferguson, Alex. A., 38 M* Alpine st 1 847
Ferguson, Alex., 31 Elmbank eras. 1870
Findlay, Joseph, 25 Lynedoch st 1873
Finlay, John, 18 Kenfield street 1850
Finlayson, Jas., M.D., 351 Bath sti873
200 Fisher, Donald, 183 St Vincent st. 1869
Fleming, J.Q., M.D., 155 Bath stl84i
Fleming, William James, M.B.,
155 Bath street. 1876
Forbes, George, B.A., F.R.S.E.,
Professor of Natural Philosophy
in Anderson's College. 1872
•Forsyth, Matthew, I.A., 191 West
George street 1877
305 Foulds, John, 115 Bath street. 1877
Foulis, David, M.D., 191 Hill st 1877
Foulis, William, 42 Virginia street 1870
Frame, Thomas, Royal Bank place. 1863
Fraser, Daniel, 1 13 Buchanan st 1853
2IO Frew, Alex., C.E. , Land Surveyor,
175 Hope street 1876
Frew, Robt, M.E., 75 Bath street 1874
Fulton, David, C.E., 135 Buchanan
street. 1878
Fulton, David, Engraving Works,
Duke street 1872
Gairdner, W.T., M.D., Professor of
Practice of Physic in the University
of Glasgow, 225 St. Vincent st 1863
215 Galbraith, Andrew, 123 Hope street 185 7
Galbraith, James, M.A., LL.B., 68
Bath street 1875
Galbraith, Wm., 3 Blvthswood sq. 1868
Gale, Jas. M., C.E., Water Office,
23 Miller street. 1856
Gardner, Daniel, 36 Jamaica street 1869
220 Gardner, George, 49 Bath street. 1873
Garroway, John, 58 Buchanan st. 1875
Garroway, Robt, M.D., Rosemoont,
Cumbernauld road. 1859
Geddea, Wm., Battlefield, Langside. 1 846
Gemmell, Wm., 150 Hope street 1876
225 Gentles, Wm., 338 Sauchiehall st. 1870
Gilchrist, David, Beach Villa,
PoUoksbields. 1876
Gillies, Wm., Battlefield, Langside.1869
Gillies, W. D., 10 Princes square, 1872
Gilmour, J. B., 50 N. Hanover
street 1865
230 Goodwin, Robert, 75 Buchanan st 1875
Gorman, William, 153 West Nile
street. i860
Gossman, Adam, 79 Robertson st 1870
Gonrlay, John, C.A., 24 George
Square. 1874
Gonrlay, Robert, 8 Howard street 1869
235 Gonrlay, Robert, Bank of Scotland. 1873
Gow, Alexander, 2 Dupdune road,
Guilford, Surrey. 1869
Gow, Robert, Caimdowan, Dowan-
hill gardens. i860
Graham, David, Jan., 267 Sanchie-
hall street 1876
Grant, Robert, M.A.,LL.D.,F.RS.,
Professor of Astronomy in the Uni-
versity of Glasgow; Observatory,
Hon. Vice-President. i860
240 Gray, Charles, 193 Renfrew street 1870
Gray, James, M.D., 15 Newton
terrace. 1863
Gray, James, 12 Eelvingrove street 1876
Greenlees, Alex., M.D., 405 St.
Vincent street 1864
Gregory, T. Currie, C.E., F.G.S.,
4 West Regent street 1858
245 Grieve, John, M.D., care of W. L.
Buchanan, 14 Lynedoch crescent 1856
Grieve, Robert, L.R.C.S. Ed., 52
Holmhead street 1872
Hallows, Frederic J., 133 West
George street. 1872
Hamilton, Geo., 149 St Vincent st 187 1
Hamilton, J. Struthers, Adelphi
Cotton Works. 1869
250 Hamilton, Patrick, 149 St Vincent
street 1854
Hannah, •Robert S., 80 Buchanan
street 1873
Hannay, Anthony, 23 Exchange
square. 1856
Hannay, Thomas, 21 St Vincent pi. 1864
Hannay, W. H., 22 Hope street 1876
255 Harvey, J. E., 249 New City rd. 185 1
Hay, John, 12 Terrace street 1870
Henderson, Frank Y., 175 Buchanan
street. 1876
Henderson, Thos., 47 Union street 1855
Henderson, William, Chemical
Works, Irvine. V
260 Henderson, W.,Williamfield, Irvine. 1 1
Henderson, Wm., 26 Renfield st 1873
Henry, R. W., 14 Garthland street 1875
Herriot, Arthur, 22 Wilson street 1869
Hewat, A., F. F.A.,20 Belmont eras. 1877
265 Heys, ZechariahJ.jSouthArthurlie,
Barrhead. 1870
Higginbotham, James S., 147 St
Vincent street 1874
Hill, Andrew, 31 Arlington street 1877
Hilliard, Joseph, 65 Renfield street, 1878
Hislop, James, Baronald House,
Maryhill. 1874
270 Hodge, William, 15 Hillsborough
square, Hillhead. 1878
Hoey, David G., Workington, Cum-
berland. 1869
lAst of Members.
251
Hogg, Charles P., C.E.,175 Hope
street 1876
Hogg, Robert, 26a Ranfield street 1865
Holt, T. G., 25 Wellington street. 1875
275 Honeyman, John, F. R.I. B.A., 140
Bath street. 1870
Home, B. R., G.E., 150 Hope st 1876
Houston, Campbell, Endrick Bank,
Bellabooston. 1873
Howatt, James, 146 Buchanan st 1870
Howatt, William, 146 Buchanan sti870
280 Hunt, Edmund, 87 St Vincent st 1856
H outer, Andw., 14 Woodside place. 1870
Hunter, James, Newmains House,
Motherwell. 1854
Hunter, James, 156 St Vincent sti874
Hunter, J. E., 30 Hope street. 1878
285 Hunter, Taylor Shipley, Stobcross
New Docks Works. 1875
Hutchison, Bobt, 8 Great Western
terrace. 1868
Hutton, W. B., 77 Benfield street 1868
Inglis, Anthony, 64 Warroch street 1 854
Inglis, John, 64 Warroch street. 1850
290 Irvine, A.K., M.D., 3 Newton
terrace. 1858
Jacks, William, 39 St. Vincent
place. 1875
Jackson, Thomas, Coates House,
Coatbridge. 1857
Jacoby, Gustav, Prospect Villa,
Montgomery ter., Mount Florida. 187 1
Jamieson, John L. K., Mansion
House, Govan. 1868
295 Johnson, Rev. J. S., D.D., Manse,
Cambuslsng. 1870
Johnstone, James, Coatbridge street,
Port-Dundas. 1869
Jones, William, 286 Bath crescent 187 1
Kennedy, Hugh, Redely ffc, Partick. 1876
Kennedy, Thos., 3 North Exchange
court 1869
300 Kennedy, Walter Stewart, Allan-
bank, Crossbill. 1873
Ker, Wm., 1 Windsor ter., West 1874
Kerr, Charles Jas., 42 St Vincent
crescent. 1877
Kerr, James Hy., 13 Virginia st 1872
Kerr, John, M.A., 73 Grant street 1878
305 Key, William, 1 Lancelot place,
Pollokshields. 1877
King, James, 6 Windsor ter., St
George's road. 1848
King, James, Hurlet and Campsle
Alum Company, 115 Wellington
street. 1855
Kirk, Alexander C, Govan Park,
Govan road. 1869
Kirk, Robert, M.D., Newton Cot-
tage, Partick. 1877
310 Kirkpatrick, Andrew J., 10 Wood-
side place. 1869
Kirkwood, Anderson, LL.D., 12
Windsor terrace, West 1869
Kirsop, John, 98 Argyle street 1855
Knox, And. L., Montgomerie drive,
Kelvinside, Great Western road. 1868
Knox, John, 129 W. George street 1870
315 Laing, Alex., LL.D., Professor of
Mathematics in Anderson's
College. 1846
Laird, Geo., 10 Ann st, Bridgeton.1870
Laird, Hugh, Jun., Clydesdale Bank,
Argyle street 1875
Laird, John, Marchmont, Port-Glas-
gow. 1876
Lamb, James, 50 Wilson street 1870
320 Lamb, Thos., 190 Parliamentary
road. 1870
Lang, Wm., Jun., 190 W. George
street. 1865
Laughlen, Andrew, C.E., 207 W.
George street 1849
Leggat, Robert, 38 Sauchiehall st. 1869
Leisler, Louis, 130 Hope street 1869
325 Ligat, John, West Field, Rutherglen.1876
Lindsay, Archd. M., M.A., 87 W.
Regent street 1872
Lindsay, Rev. Thomas M., M.A.,
D.D.,F.R.S.E., F.A.S., Professor
in the Free Church College. 1873
Lindsay, Wm. G., 30 George sq. 187 1
Lockhart, Robt, 234 St. George's *.
road. 1870
330* Long, John Jex, 12 Whitevale. 1862
Lothian, J. Alexander, M.D.,
L.R.C.S.E., 6 Newton terrace. 1872
Lumsden, Sir James, 20 Queen st 1836
M'Adam, William, 45 Hydepark st.i85l
M'Adam, William, Jun., 33 St
George's road 1875
335 M* Alley, Robert, Chemical Works,
Falkirk. 1872
M 'Andrew, John, 17 Parkst, East 1843
M 'Arthur, Alex., 82 Glassford st 1865
M 'Arthur, D., 26 Bothwell street 18 70
Macarthur, J. G., 134 St George's
road. 1874
340 Macaulay, James, 29 Arlington st 1877
M'Call, J., V.S., Prof, of Veterinary
Medicine and Surgery, Veterinary
College, 85 Buceleuch street. 1866
M'Callum, George, Rossbank, Cam-
buslang. 1850
M'Cann, James, D.D., F.R.S.L.,
F.G.S.,&c, i9Lansdownecres. 1876
M'Coll, Alexander, 247 Bath street 1875
345 MacCoU, Hector, 65 W. Regent at 1876
252
Philosophical Society of Glasgow.
M'Conville, John, M.D., n Elm-
bank crescent 1S70
M 'Cowan, Robert, C.A., 87 St.
Vincent street. 1S69
M'Crae, John, 7 Radnor street. 1876
M'Creatfa, James, M.E., 95 Bath
street. 1874
350 M'Culloch, Richard, 4 North court,
Roval Exchange. 1872
M'Culloch, William, 50 Westbonrne
gardens, West. 1872
•M'Culloch, William, 147 Argyle st.1877
Macdonald, Arch. G., 8 Park circus. 1869
Macdonald, Thomas, 203 Hope at. 1869
355 H'Ewen, Wm., Jun., 11 Parkter. 1869
Macfarlane, James Lilburn, Oswald
Hill, Partick. 1S76
Macfarlane, Samuel, Oswald Hill,
Partick. 1876
Macfarlane, Walter, Saracen Foun-
dry, Possilpark. 1855
M'Farlane, Walter, Printworks,
Thornliebank. 1869
360 M 'Gavin, John, iQElmbank place. 1869
MacGiU, J. 8., R.vdal Mount, Mont-
gomerie drive, Gt Western road. 1869
M'Gregor, Duncan, F.R.G.S., 45
Clyde place. 1867
M'Gregor, Jas. W., 4 Gt. Western
terrace, Hill head. 1869
M'Gregor, James, 1 East India
avenue, London, E.C. 1872
365 M'Grigor, Alexander B., LL.D.,
172 St. Vincent street. 1857
M '11 wraith, James, 6 Berkeley ter. 1872
M'Intosh, James, 129 Stockwell st. 1855
Macintyre, Jas. G., 162 St. Vincent
street. 1876
M'Intyre, Peter, 20 Ingram street. 1873
370 Mackay, John, Jun., 354 Sauchie-
hall street. 1869
•Mackenzie, W. D., 43 Howard st. 1875
M'Kendrick, John G., M.D., CM.,
F.R.C.P.Ed., F.R.S.Ed., Pro-
fessor of Institutes of Medicine in
the University of Glasgow, 35
Westbonrne Gardens. 1877
M'Kendrick, John, 54 Port street,
Cranstonhill. 1869
Mackinlay, David, 6 Great Western
terrace, Hillbead. 1855
375 Mackinlay, John, 29 St. Vincent pi 1876
M'Kissock, Peter, Hamilton cres.,
Partick. 1876
M'Lachlan, Duncan, 2 Ardine ter-
race, Crossbill. 1876
M'Laren, Robert, Canal st., Port-
Eglinton. 1848
M'Laren, Wm. Ed., 16 Bothwell st.1873
380 Maclean, A. H., 124 Queen street 1870
Maclean, William, Jun., 98 West
George street. 1869
Maclehose, James, 18 Victoria cres.,
DowanhilL 1867
Macleish, J. M., 10 Hamilton drive,
Hillbead. 1874
Maclellan, A. H., 6 Lansdowne cres. 1870
385 M'Lellan, Lewis, 26 India street. 1869
M'Lellan, Walter, i29Trongate. 1856
Macleod, Kenneth M.t I Montrose st. 1870
M'Nicol, Peter, M.A., 186 North st. 1873
M'Onie, Andrew, Scotland street,
Tradeston. i860
390 Macphail, Donald, M. R.C. M.,
Western Infirmary. 1877
M'Pherson, George L., 17 Albert
drive, Crossbill. 1872
Mactcar, James, F.C.S., St. Rollox
Chemical Works. 1867
M'Vail, D. C, 400 Great Western
road. 1873
Macvicar, A., Shields Cottage,
Pollokshields. 1876
395 Main, James, A.R., 25 Hope st 1870
Manford, Stewart, 5 Dixon street 1874
Mann, John, C. A., 83 West Regent
street, Treasurer. 1856
Manwell, James, 2 Albert road,
Pollokshields. 1S76
Marshall, James, 8 Somerset place, 1869
400*Marshall, Jas., Sunnvside, Partick-
hill. " 1875
Martin, John M., 142 St Vincent
street. 1865
Martin, Thos., 166 Sauchiehall st. 1862
Martin, Thos., 19 Rupert st, Great
Western road. 187 1
Mar wick, J. D., F.R.S.E., City
Chambers. 1878
405* Mason, Stephen, 47 Queen street 1870
Mathieson, John A., 211 Hope
street. 1 85 1
Mathieson, Thomas A., 13 East
Campbell street 1S69
Maughan, W. C, Kilarden, Rose-
neath. 1877
Mayer, E. L., 12 Hillbead Gardens, 1872
410 Maver, John, F.C.S., 2 Ciarinda ter.,
Pollokshields. i860
Mechan, Arthur, 118 Cheapside st 1 876
Mein, Alex., 12 Buckingham ter. 1857
Menzie8,Tlios.,Uutcheson8*Grammar
School, Crown street 1859
Michaelson, M., 3 Sandyford place. 1878
415 Middleton, Robert, T., 179 West
George street. i860
Millar, David, 5 Park Grove ter. 1873
Millar, Jas., 134 Parliamentary rd. 1870
Millar, William, 3 Woodside ter. 1873
Miller, Alexander, Jun. (Messrs.
Inglis & Wakefield), 74 Gordon
street. 1873
420 Miller, Daniel, C.E., 203 St. Vincent
street 1851
List of Members.
253
Miller, Hugh, M. D. , F. F. P. S. , 298
Bath street 1 872
Miller, J as., Port-Dundas Pottery. 1863
Miller, James, 21 Woodaide place. 1869
Miller, John (Messrs. James Black
& Co.), 23 Royal Exchange sq. 1874
425 Miller, Thomas, Auburn Cottage,
St. Andrew's road, Pol lokshields. 1876
Miller, Thos. P., Cambuslang Dye
Work*. 1864
Miller, W. M., 5 Shaftesbury ter.,
West Regent street. 1867
Miller, William, 147 St. Vincent st. 1869
Mills, Edmund J., D.Sc., F.R.S.,
Anderson's College. 1875
430 Mirrlees, James B., 45 Scotland St.,
Tradeston. 1869
Mitchell, Angus, 42 Miller street 1872
Mitchell, J as. L., 10 Gt. Western
terrace. 1878
Mitchell, Robert, 54 Carnarvon st. 1870
Moftatt, Alexander, 47 Union street 1874
435 Moir, P. M., Burgh Mill Chemical
Works, Stirling. 1S68
Montereau, Emile Louis de, 107
Pollok street. 1 877
Moore, Alexander, C.A., 128 Hope
street. 1S69
Moore, Robert II., 32 Richmond
street 1876
Moore, William, M.E., 49 West
George street. i860
440 Morgan, John, Springfield House,
Bishopbrig^s. 1844
Morrice, Alex., Tullymet Villa,
Ay ton road, Pollokshields. 1873
Morrison, Donald, LL. 1>., 4 Vic-
toria terruce, Dowanliill. 1877
Morrison, George, 19 Royal terrace. 1872
Morrison, George R.t 10 Bclgrave
terrace, Hillhead. 1S75
445 Morrison, J. Crooks, L.D.S., 341
Bath street 1S78
Morrison, J as., 98 Sauchiehall st. 1869
Morton, Alex., 241 W. George st. 1869
Morton, James, M.D., Professor
of Materia Medica in Anderson's
College, 199 Bath st. 1868
Morton, James, Turkey Red Works,
Dalquhurn, Kenton. 1876
450 Mossman, John, 21 Elmbank ores. 1870
Muir, John, 6 Park gardens. 1 876
Muir, Matthew A., 20 Park terrace. 1861
Muir, Thomas, M.A., F.R.S.E.,
Beech Croft, Particle, 1874
Muir, William R., 345 Bath cres. 1877
455*Muirhead, Andrew Erskine, Cart
Forge, Crossmyloof. 1873
♦Muirhead, Henry, M.D., Bushy
Hill, Cambuslang. 1 869
Muirhead, Thomas, 5 Stella place,
Pollokshfoldt, 1 872
Munro, Daniel, 7 Park quadrant. 1867
Munsie, George, 1 St John's ter.,
Hillhead. 1871
460 Murdoch, James, Glenneuk, Port-
Glasgow. 1857
Murdoch, J as. B., Hamilton place,
Langside. 1855
♦Murray, David, 169 W. George
street. 1876
Murray, George, 8 Ingram street. 1872
Murray, George, 18 Carrington st 1877
465 Nairn, Archibald, 63 North Fred-
erick street. 1870
Napier, James, F.C.S., F.R.S.E.,
Maryfield, BothweU. 1849
Napier, J as., Jun., 21 Roselea drive. 1870
Napier, James R., F.R.S., 22 Blyths-
wood square, Vice-President 1850
*Napier, John, Saughneld House,
Hillhead. 1849
470 Neilson, Walter, 172 W. George
street 1856
Neilson, Walter M., Hydepark
Works, Springbum. 1870
Neilson, Wm., 43 Renfield street. 1871
Nelson, D. M., 48 Gordon street 1875
Newhaus, Albert, I Prince's terrace,
Dowanhill. 1874
475 Newman, David, 12 Annfield ter-
race, Partickhill. 1877
Nicol, David, 23 Nelson terrace,
Hillhead. 1872
Nicol, James, City Chambers. 1872
Nicolson, Thos., 183 St Vincent
street 1858
Nowery, William, 37 Derby st. 1876
480 Ogilvie, Thos. Robertson, F.C.S.,
Bank Top, Lyle st, Greenock. 1875
Osborne, Alex., 5 Oakley terrace,
Dennistoun. 1 870
Outram, D. E., 16 Grosvenor ter-
race, Hillhead. 1878
Paris, Wm., Glasgow Iron Works,
St Rollox. 1869
Paris, William, Jun., Glasgow Iron
Works. 1872
485 Park, James, 42 Millburn street 1877
*Parnie, James, 26 Lynedoch street. 1 874
Paterson, Adam, LL.D., 45 West
George street 1843
Paton, James, F.L.S., Alva Cot-
tage, Cambuslang. 1876
Patterson, T. L., F.C.S., at John
Walker & Co. 'a, Greenock. 1873
490 Peden, William N., 11 Rose street,
Garnethill 1872
Pennycook, C. H., 12 Canning pi. 1869
Peters, John, 29 S. Shamrock at. 1874
Pickering, John, 5 Royal crescent. 1875
254
Philosophical Society of Glasgow.
Pickering, Robert, 13 Montgomery
crescent, Hillhead. 1875
495 Pirie, John, M.D., 26 Elmbank
creeeent. 1877
•Pirrie, Robert, 9 Bockiogbtm ter. 1875
Pollock, Morris, 12 Park terrace. 1875
Poynter, John E., 8 Princes aq.t
Buchanan street. 1866
Pringle,Quintin, B.Sc.,B.A.,LL.B.,
23 Lacrosse place, Belmont st,
Hillhead. 1872
500 Proven, James, 17 Gordon street. 1868
Ramsay, John, of Kildalton, M.P.,
5 Dixon street 1856
Ramsay, William, C.E., 11 Ashton
terrace, Dowanhill. 1 84 1
Ramsay, Wm., Ph.D., 11 Ashton
terrace. 1875
Randolph, Charles, 14 Park terrace. 1836
505 Bankine, David, C.E., 75 West
Kile street 1875
Rankine, Captain John, 256 Great
Western road. i860
Raphael, Robert, 130 Hope st. 1868
Readman, Robert, Derby terrace, 1848
Reid, Andrew, 25 North Albion
street 1875
510 Reid, James, 10 Woodside terrace. 1870
Reid, J. G., 2 Sandy ford place. .1874
Reid, Tbos., M.D., 11 Elmbank
street 18C9
Reith, Rev. George, M.A., Free
College Church, 16 Queen's cres. 1876
Renfrew, Robert, M.D., 42 Lans-
downe crescent 1877
515 Renison, William, 3 Woodside
'place. 1856
Renton, J. Crawford, M.B., L.R.C.P.,
6 S. Ed., 18 St James terrace,
Billhead. 1875
Ritchie, Wm., Jan., Kincaidfield
House, Milton of Campsie. 1870
Roberton, James, LL.D., Professor
of Conveyancing in the University
of Glasgow, 1 Park terrace, east. 187 1
Robertson, Andw. Carrick, 132 West
Regent street. 1874
520 Robertson, Archibald, 25 Queen
street 1863
Robertson, Archibald, 36 Hope st. 1877
Robertson, James, I Clifford street,
Pauley road. 1865
Robertson, John, 10 Teleview ter.,
Langside, Librarian. i860
Robertson, Robert, 41 Cumberland
street 1877
525 Robertson, Robert A., Nenthorne,
Ayton road, Pollokshields. 1877
Robertson, R. Blair, 1 7 lflon cres.,
Paisley road. 1872
Robertson, Wm., C.E., 123 St
Vincent street 1869
Robertson, William, BlackhOl, Cum-
bernauld road. 1876
Robeon, Hasleton R, 14 Royal
crescent, W. 1876
530 Ross, Henry, 7 Park quadrant 1876
Ross, James, Wallside House, Fal-
kirk. 1876
Rottenburg, Paul, 130 Hope st 1872
Rowan, David, 22 Woodside place. 1863
Rundell, R. Cooper, Underwriters'
Room, Royal Exchange. 1877
535 Russell, James B., B.A., M.D., 1
Montrose street 1862
Russell, Thomas, Cleveden, Kelvin-
side Gardens. 1870
Salmon, James, F.R.I.B.A., 197
St Vincent street 1870
Salmon, W. Forrest, F.R.I.B.A.,
197 St Vincent street. 1870
Sandeman, D., Woodlands, Lenzie. 1870
540 Schuman, Sigismund, 7 Royal Bank
place. 1866
Scott, Alex., 19 St Vincent cres. 1871
Scott, E. J., 24 Sardinia terrace. 1872
Scott, James, 6 Wilton crescent. 1869
Scott, James F., 62 Esplanade,
Greenock. 1876
545 Scott, Thomas, 45 St. James st,
Kingston. 1873
Scott, William, 12 Princes terrace,
Dowanhill. 1875
Seligmann, Hermann L., 29 St Vin-
cent place. 1850
Selkirk, Jas. L., 107 St Vincent
street 187 1
Sellers, Jas., Jun., 266 St Vincent
street. 1873
550 Shanks, Alexander, Belgrade Villa,
Ayton road, Pollokshields. 1876
Shaw, William, 9 Great Western
terrace. 1878
Sheriff, John, 156 St. Vincent st 1876
Sim, William, W Gt. Clyde street 1862
Sloan, Samuel, M.D., 4 Newton
terrace. 1877
555 Smart, Robt, M.D., 4 Queen's cres. 1873
Smellie, Thos. D., 209 St. Vincent
street 1871
Smith, Francis, 45 Gordon street 1875
Smith, Geo., Sun Foundry, Parlia-
mentary road. 1870
Smith, Harry J., Ph.D., 27 Buck-
ingham terrace. 1877
560 Smith, Hugh C, 54 Gordon street. 186 1
Smith, James, 21 Bath street 1869
Smith, James, Benvne, Dowanhill. 1869
•Smith, J.Guthrie, 173 St Vincent st. 1875
Smith, J. P., C.E., Haughhead
cottage, Govan road. 1867
565 Smith, Napier, 63 St Vincent st 1869
•Smith, William, 20 Ropework lane. 1854
List of Members.
255
Smith, Wm. A., 6 S. Hanover st 1870
Smith, W. R. W.,6 S. Hanover st 1868
Smyth, Hugh F., Bank Agent,
2 Dumbarton road. 1877
57o"Sorley, Robert, 178 Argyle street 1877
Spencer, John, 2 Rosslyn terrace,
DowanhiU. 1874
Stanford, Edward C. C, F.C.S.,
Thoraloe, Partick Hill. 1864
Steel, James, 25 Holmhead atreet 1870
Steel, James, 302 St Vincent at 1875
575 Stephen, Robert R., Adelphi Bis-
cuit Factory. 1867
*Steven, Hugh, 4 Buckingham ter. 1869
Steven, John, 32 Elliot street 1875
Stevenson, Jas., Jan., 23 West Nile
street 1870
Stevenson, William, 4 Berkeley ter. 1870
580 Stewart, A. H., 6 Holy rood eras. 1876
Stewart, A. D.,M.B., L.R C.S.Ed.,
320 St. Vincent street 1876
Stewart, Daniel Rankin, Broxburn
Oil Co., Ld., Broxburn. 1877
Stewart, David, 3 Clifton place. 1856
Stewart, David Y., 3 Proven place,
North Montrose street 1849
585 Stewart, Henry, City Saw Mills, 1876
Stewart, James, sen., 84 Norfolk
street 1875
Stewart, James R, 32 Oswald st 1845
Stewart, John, 34 Moray place,
Edinburgh. 1869
Stewart, John, Western Saw Mills. 1877
590 Stewart, John, 29 Napiershall st 1875
Stewart, Peter, M.D., 1 Albany
place. 1847
Stewart, Wm., 175 St. Vincent st 1869
Stillie, Thos. L., 21 St Vincent pi. 1869
Stirton, James, M.D., F.L.S., 15
Newton street 1876
595 Stoddart, James Edward, Clyde
Lead Works, Cornwall street 1872
Storer, David, Colour Works,
Sydney street 1869
Storer, James, 48 French street,
Bridgeton. 1 875
Strain, John, C.E., 143 West
Regent street 1 876
* Sutherland, David, Green brae,
Pollokshields. 1877
600 Swan, William, Collina Cottage,
Maryhill. 1 870
Swanson, John, 1 Grafton square. 1872
Symington, Andrew, 119 St Vin-
cent street 1873
Tatlock, John, 138 Bath street 1875
Tatlock, RobtR., F.RS.E.,F.C.S.,
138 Bath street. 1868
605 Taylor, Benjamin, 7 Florence place. 1872
Taylor, William G., Jun., Gartmore
villa, Battlefield, Langside. 1874
Teacher, Adam, 12 St Enoch aq.~ 1868
Teacher, Donald M., Sunnybank,
Albert road, CroathilL 1874
Templeton, James, 7 Woodaide
crescent 1876
610 Tennant, Charles, St Rollox
Chemical Works. 1868
Tennant, Gavin P., M.D., 120 Bath
street 1875
Thomson, Alfred Arthur, Annfield
house, Dcnnistoun. 1877
Thotnson,Allen,M.D.,LL.D.,F.RS.,
66 Palace Garden ter., London, W.,
Hon, Vice-President. 1849
Thomson, David, LA., 122 Well-
ington street 1869
615 Thomson, Fred. W., 3 St John's
terrace, Billhead. 1878
Thomson, George, 69 Ingram street. 1859
Thomson, George P., 2 Newton pi. 1874
Thomson, Graham Hardie, 10 Donna
ter., North Woodaide. 1869
Thomson, Hugh, M.D., 330 Ren-
frew street. 1877
620 Thomson, James, F.G.S., 3 Ab-
botsford place. 1863
Thomson, James, Allan & Mann's,
48 St Enoch square. 1870
Thomson, James, LA., 219 Hope
street 1870
Thomson, James, LL.D., C.E., Pro-
fessorof Engineering in the Univer-
sity of Glasgow, Oakfield House,
University avenue, Hillhead. 1874
Thomson, James, 1 Broom Park
terrace. 1877
625 Thomson, Jamas R, Qydebank
Foundry. 1863
Thomson, John, Alliance Foundry. 1870
Thomson, John D., 4 Rosslyn ter.,
Hillhead. 1870
Thomson, Jonathan, 136 W. George
atreet 1869
Thomson,SirWilliam,LL.D.,F.R.a,
Professor of Natural Philosophy,
University of Glasgow. 1846
630 Thomson, William, Annfield house,
Dennistoun. 1877
Townsend, Joseph, 13 Crawford st,
Port-Dundas. 1856
Townsend, Robert, 128 Bishop st,
Port-Dundas. 1865
Turnbull, John, 62 St Vincent st 1843
Turnbull, Robert, LA., 122 Wel-
lington street 1877
635 Turner, William, 33 Renfield st 1875
Ure, John, Crown Mills, 68 Wash-
ington street 1856
Urie, John, 83 Jamaica atreet 1876
Waghorn, Geo. A., 88 Gt Clyde at. 1876
256
Philosophical Society of Glasgow.
Waddell, Peter Ilately, Jun.,
75 Hill street, Garncthill.
640 Walker, Archibald, 4 Muirhead
street.
Walker, Malcolm M«N., F.R.A.&,
45 Clyde place.
Wallace, Abraham, M.D., 4 New-
ton place.
Wallace, Wm., Ph.D., F.R.S.E.,
F. C. S. , Vice - President, 1 38
Bath street.
Watson,Eben.,A.M.,M.D., 1 Wood-
side terrace.
645 Watson, George, 8 Woodside cres-
cent.
Watson, James, 2 Florentine gar.,
Hillhead.
Watson, Robert, 42 Hntcheson st
Watson, Thomas Lennox, 10S W.
Regent street
Watson, Wm. W., F.S.S., City
Chambers.
650 Watson, William Renny, 16 Wood-
lands terrace.
Watt, Alexander, 67 Renfield st.
Weir, John, M.D., F.R.C.S. Edin.,
25 Sandyford place.
Wenley, James A., 8 Lynedoch
place.
Westlands, Robert, 8 Howard st
655 White, James, 241 Sauchiehall st.
White, John, Scotstoun and Slit-
mills, Partick.
White, W. K., 9 Fitzroy place.
Whitelaw, Alexander, 87 Sydney
street.
Wilson, Alexander, Hydcpark Foun-
dry, 54 Finnieston street.
660 Wilson, Charles, 7 Royal Bank
place.
Wilson, Daniel, 124 Bothwell st
Wilson, David, 63 Ingram street.
S76
869
S$3
877
851
873
S64
S73
872
876
865
870
870
875
870
869
876
875
878
S55
874
875
872
850
Wilson, John, 1 1 Woodside place. 1 S73
Wilson, J. G., M.D., F.R.S.E.,
F. R.C S. E., Professor of Midwifery
in Anderson's College, 9 Woodside
crescent. 1S56
665 Wilson, J. Vcitch, 116 St Vincent
street 1S74
Wilson, Joseph, C.E., 175 Hope
street 1S77
Wilson, Peter M'Gregor, Home
park, Uddingston. 1S77
Wilson, William, llolmhurst, Dowan-
hill gardens. 1870
Wilson, William Thorburn, 4 Wcst-
boarne terrace. 1877
670 Wingate, P., 11 Broomhill drive,
Partick. 1S72
Wolfe, J. R, M.D., F.R.C.S.E.,
18 Brandon place. 1S72
Wood, J. Muir, 42 Buchanan st. 1S50
Woodburn, J. Cowan, M.D., 197
Bath street 1S69
Wright S. H., M.D., CM.,
M. K. C. P. E. , Spring Mount,
Northwich, Cheshire. 1S73
675 Wright, Thomas, 12S Bothwell
street 1S73
Wttnsch, Ed. A., F.G.S., 81 Buch-
anan street. 1863
Wyper, Jas. C, 107 Union street. 1870
Young, Jas. , F. R. S. , Kelly, Weray ss
Bay. " 1852
Young, John, M. D. , F. R. S. E. ,Prof.
of Natural History in the Univer-
sity of Glasgow, 38 Cecil street,
Hillhead. 1866
6S0 Young, John, Jun., Forth street,
Port-Dundas. 1870
Young, Robert, 486 St Vincent 8^1875
Younger, George, 1 N. Exchange
court 1874
BELL AMD BAUT, rBUfTSCS, 41 MXTCSJU.k STIiXST, QL1SGOW.
PROCEEDINGS
OF THE
PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY OF GLASGOW.
SEVENTY-SIXTH SESSION.
I. — On a New Method of determining for several Thousand Years
in advance the Day of tlie Week corresponding to any given
date. By Mr. James Dickson.
[Read before the Society, Nov. 6, 1878.]
The following method of finding the day of the week for any day
in several thousand years, like the one already in use, is limited
as to the extent of its application by the duration of the present
Gregorian System, which is well known will continue to be true,
without necessity of correction, for a period of 3600 years. While
necessarily arriving at the same results, the present method diners
somewhat in detail from the old one of finding the i( Dominical
Letter" for any year. That method, as is well known, has for its
object the determining of the date of the first Sunday in any year;
that accomplished, the order in which the Sundays (and all the
other days of the week) occur during the year is easily settled by
a simple calculation, or a table. There being seven days in the
week, there are, of course, seven possible dates for Sunday, e^Sfc
Vol. XI.— No. 2- a
258
Philosophical Society of Glasgow.
might fall on the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, or 7th day of
January. Corresponding to these dates, or numbers, it has been
customary to attach the letters A, B, C, D, E, F, and G. Should
the result of the calculation for the Dominical (or LonFs-day)
letter for any year give the number 5, then the D.L. for that year
would be E; and so with the others. Now, in Roman Catholic
countries (or countries that follow the same feast-day observances)
it is not difficult to see the advantage of this arrangement. But
in Protestant countries, where the same ecclesiastical requirements
do not exist, any other arrangement, for civil purposes, would do
equally well, and might in some, moreover, have the advantage of
greater simplicity and directness.
On going over the subject recently, it occurred to me that an
excellent arrangement wculd be the following : —
Monday.
Tuesday.
Wednesday.
Thursday.
Friday.
Saturday.
Sunday.
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
1
o
3
4
5
G
0
But while in the established system Sunday may be represented
by any of the seven letters or numbers, I have supposed, in this
arrangement, an invariable relation to exist between the days of
the week and the letters or numbers; that is, Monday is always
represented by A, or 1 ; Tuesday by B, or 2 — and so on. I have
also further supposed — as theoretically permissible — the Gregorian
Calendar to begin at the year 1 of the Christian era. This allows
of a somewhat singular but useful coincidence, viz., that the first
day of the era should begin with A, or Monday. There being no
special reason for the retention of the term Dominical Letter, 1
shall in what follows call the letters " Year Letters," and their
corresponding numbers "Characteristic Numbers/' These are,
in limine, the main points of difference between the established
system and the one here introduced.
The following table, which, so far as the first days of the years
are concerned, is a complete Calendar for 400 years, exhibits the
joint effect of the Julian and Gregorian systems in changing the
order of the days of the week : —
Mr. James Dickson on a Jfew Method, <kc
259
TABLE L
(Showing the " Year Letters " in a cycle of 400 years).
1st Century.
A
1
7
•
18
24
29
35
•
46
52
57
63
•
74
80
85
91
•
B
2
8
13
19
•
30
36
41
47
•
58
64
69
75
•
86
92
97
€
3
*
14
20
25
31
•
42
48
53
59
•
70
76
81
87
•
98
D
4
9
15
•
26
32
37
43
•
54
60
65
71
•
82
88
93
99
E
•
10
16
21
27
*
38
44
49
55
•
66
72
77
83
•
94100
F
5
11
•
22
28
33
39
•
50
56
61
67
•
78
84 89
95
G
6
12 17
1
23
•
34
40
45 51
j
•
62
68
73
79
•
90
96
2nd Century.
A
1
3i •
14
20
25
31
•
42
48
53
59
•
70'
76
81
87
•
98
B
4' 9
15
•
26
32
37
43
•
54
60
65
71
•
82
88
93
99
C
•
10
16
21
27
•
38
44
49
55
■
66
72
77
83
•
94200
D
5
11
•
22
28
33
39
•
50
56
61
67
ft
78
84
89
95
E
6
12
17
23
•
34
40
45
51
•
62
68
73
79
•
90
96
F
101
7
•
18
24
29
35
•
46
52
57
63
•
74
80
85
91
•
G
2
8
13
19
•
30
36
41
47
•
58
m
69
75
•
86
92
97
3rd Century.
A
•
10
16 21
27
•
38 44
49
55
•
66
72
77
83
*
1
94 300
B
5
11
»
22
28
33
39 .
50
56
61
67
•
78
84
89
95
C
6
12
17 23
•
34
40
45
51
•
62
68
73
79
•
90
96
D
201
7
•
18 24
29
35
•
46
52
57
63
•
74
80
85
91
•
E
2
8
13
19' .
30
36
41
47
•
58
64
69
75
1
86
92
97
F
3
•
14
20 25
31
•
42
48
53
59
•
70
76
81
87
•
98
G
4
9
15
•
26
32
37
43
*
54 (>0 65
1
71
•
82
88
93
99
4th Century.
A
6
12
17
23
•
34
40
45
51
•
62
68
73
79
•
90
96
B
301
7
•
18
24
29
35
•
46
52
57 63
.
74
80
85
91
•
C
o
8
13
19
•
30
36
41
47
•
58 64
69
75
•
86
92
97
D 3
•
14 20
25
31
•
42
48
53
59 .
70
76
81
87
•
98
E
4
9
15
•
26
32
37
43
•
54
60 65
71
•
82
88
93
99
F
■
10
16
21
27
•
38
44
49
55
. ! 66
72
77
83
•
94
400
G
5
11
•
22
28
33
39
•
50
56
61
67
•
78
84
89
95
•
[Resuming with A in 401, 801, 1201, 1601, 2001, Ac.]
Starting with the year 1 of the first century, the first day of the
year is A ; and, because an ordinary year consists of 52 weeks and
1 day, the year 2 would begin with B. Eot tXis raa& tqutool ^fc&»
260 Philosophical Society of Glasgow.
years 3 and 4 would begin with C and D respectively. But the
year 4 being a " leap " year, 5 would begin with F (E being the
last day of year 4). At the end of the year 28 we find a complete
cycle of changes, and start with the year 29, as we did at first,
with A. (The years 57 and 85 would be similarly marked). That
is the effect of the Julian computation, But at the end of the
century there is an interruption of this order, and the year 100,
instead of being a leap-year, would, according to the Gregorian
computation, be an ordinary one of 365 days. The effect of this
is that the second century begins with F instead of G, as it other
wise would if the Julian intercalation only operated. On the
whole there is thus a shifting back of two days (in the order of
the days of the week) in the course of the century. The years
200 and 300 being likewise ordinary, the third and fourth centuries
begin with D and B respectively. But the year 400 being, ac-
cording to the last provision of the Gregorian Calendar, a leap-year,
the fifth century begins with A, as it did at the beginning of the
era. Hence we see 400 years complete the cycle of changes pro-
duced by Julian and Gregorian systems together.
A general formula for these letters will now be obvious.
Suppose in the third century we take the year 272. Leaving out
the hundreds for the present, and directing our attention to the
first fourth of the table, we see that in 72 years there are two
Julian cycles and 16 years over; and looking at 16 in the table
we see that three blanks precede it, corresponding to the leap-years
in the period (16 — 1). And, as each of those blanks corresponds to
a letter passed over, their number (3) is added to the remainder
found by dividing 16 by 7 (or 2). Hence 3 + 2, or 5, is the
characteristic number of the year 72 in the first century. But as
each completed century shifts the order back two days we should
have
5 — 2, or 3 — the char. numb, for the year 172,
and 3 — 2, or 1— „ „ „ 272.
On looking at the table for the year 272 we find opposite it the
letter A, or 1.
Formulating the process : let
y = current years in any century.J
c = number of completed centuries.
[ ]r > or ( )r > *he svmDol f°r remainders (only).
[ Jra , or ( )» , the symbol for whole numbers (only).
Mr. James Dickson on a New Method, dec 261
Then the characteristic number for any year is* —
N =
P£l* [%4-<»,
or, reducing to its greatest simplicity,
= \T/r + \4/n 2 \T/r; rejecting sevens if necessary.
This is identical with the alternative formula when y is less than
28; and when y is greater than 28, the difference between the two
is either 7 or a multiple of 7. Hence the result, so far as the
week-day is concerned, is the same Expressed in words we have
then the following : —
Rule. — " Divide the current years of the century by 7; note the
" remainder, to which add the fours contained in the same number
" of years (less one). From their sum deduct twice the remainder
" formed by dividing the number of completed centuries by 4—
" the result is the Characteristic Number for the year in question. "
As an example let us take the year 1850; what is the Character-
istic Number for that year %
A»d „ (-£-)„ = , (Jl)p . 4.
Hence N = 1 +12 — 4 = 9 or 2; the Year Letter for which is
of course B, and week-day Tuesday. Hence, 1st January, 1850,
was on Tuesday; and as there would be a recurrence of this order
in 28 years after, the first day of 1878 was also on a Tuesday.
Having shown how the " Year Letter n may be determined, the
remaining part of the process is simple enough. Suppose the C N
to be N, the date of the month D; then the week-day for any date
(in ordinary years) in —
January is found from ( = \
February „ (^»±*)r
Note.— If, in using this or the alternative formula for N, negative results
should at any tune be obtained, they are easily rendered positive by
adding 7 : thus— 1 is to be understood as + 6, F, or Saturday.
262 Philosophical Society of Glasgow.
March is found from /N + D + 2\
April „ (^f^-5)r
- m
June
rr
/N 4- D + 3\
V 7 h
'* » (^ ? + -\
August „ (^ft-!X
September „ (- - — ~ ±_ ^
October „ ( j-±- )r
November „ ( + 7 + ~)r
December „ (N-+ ^4)r
Where the construction is obvious. Or, collecting, the week-day
formula) arc as follows : —
For January and October, ... ... ( **" \
, February, March, and November, ( = j
, April and July, ... ... ... ( _— *— )
May (N±J>\
T /N + D + 3\
' ' \ 7 )r
, .o.ugusu.. . . . ... ... ... i = i
, September and December, ... ( — — - — j
For leap-year the corresponding formulae are as follows : —
January, April, and July, ... ... ( — + + \
February and August, (^~^T +~ 2)
March and November, (N±DjL?^
Mr. James Dicksos (
May,
June,
September and December,
October,
The following table exhibits i
: Arew Method, <C-c.
<*-^\
<"-^\
/N+D + 5\
I 7 h
m,
a condensed form all these rela-
i
a is
42
2fl
Mn
Tn
Wed
Th
Fr
Sat. Sun.
••
*> 16
I'll,
Wmi
i'h
Vt
Hat.
3
10 17
*/4
Al
Wed
I'h
Kr
Hat.
Mo. :To.
4
11 IS
I'h
Vr.
%t,
■Inr,
Mo
Tn. Weil.
12 ' 19
Yt
Sat. Suu.
Vlo
Pb
W«l
Th.
(1
13 i 20
37
Sat,
Sun. Mo.
hi
Wnri
I'h
ft.
'
14 21
38
Sun.
Mo. Tu.
Wed.
I'h.
Vr.
Sat.
January, October,
A
R
n
n
F,
V
a
S'.-pLulnUl1, Lluucmbur,
C!
n
R
p
ft
A
B
Feb., March, Nov......
F,
p
n
A
B
n
T>
Ma
B
P
APPLICATION :
The "Year Letter" having been found from Table I., look for
the same letter in this Table in the line opposite the given month;
run the eye up the column in which it is placed, and the week-
day will be found opposite the particular date.
For leap-years employ the same letter in January and February
its for ordinary years, but the succeeding letter for March and the
remaining months of the year.
Tables I. and IT. together may be taken as a Calendar holding
true from a.d. 1601 to a.d. 5200, and approximately true (with a
deviation of less than a day) from a.d. 1 to a.d. 1600. These
might conveniently be printed on the same card (or engraved on
the same plate), and, with the requisite directions for their use,
would not take up much more space than an ordinary office
calendar.
264 Philosophical Society of Glasgow.
The following will serve to show the application of the rules and
tables. What week-day corresponds to 31st December, 2000?
H.reH.(i«2)r + (»),_2(L»)r
= 2+24—6
= 20, or 6, rejecting sevens.
2000 being a leap-year, we next use
W D = (^-^)r = (?-+-f-^)r = 0.
Hence the day falls on a Sunday.
By the Tables. Look at the year 400 in Table I. (2000 being
in the same position as 400), and we find F. But beiug a leap-
year, we use G for December. Looking for G opposite December,
and running our eye up the column until we are in a line with 31,
we see the day to be a Sunday.
The foregoing will give a fair idea of the method, and although
proceeding on much the same lines as the old one, I think it is not
unfair to claim for it, that it is much more simple and direct.
JAS. DICKSON.
Glasgow, 6th Nov., 1878.
ADDENDUM.
Although not coming strictly within the scope of this paper, it
has been suggested that there would be an advantage in showing
the applicability of the method to past Julian dates. There can
be no doubt this mode of treatment of the subject would be of
considerable interest, while, at the same time, it would furnish an
excellent additional test of the validity of the method. As regards
the operation nothing can be simpler. Bearing in mind that the
dates dealt with in this method are those now in use, all we have
to do is to add to the Julian date the difference in " style " for the
particular century in which the date is placed, and then proceed
by our method as for any ordinary date. In other words — and to
put it in the form of a maxim, — tlie week-day for any date in
" Old Style " is the same as tlvat which corresponds to tlie equivalent
date in " New Style." This is a result of some interest, as it shows
Mr. James Dickson on a New Metliod, <ic.
265
that, while Pope Gregory and his scientific coadjutor, Aloysius
Lilius, directed the suppression of the ten days between the 5th
and 15th of October, 1582, they allowed the succession of week-
days to remain undisturbed, so that, it is probable, these latter
have suffered no breach of continuity since the very earliest
times.
Now the allowances for difference of style for the present and
past centuries of the Christian era are well known, and are as
follows : —
Date.
Difference.
1800 to 1900
+ 12 Days.
1700 „ 1800
11 „
1500 „ 1700
10 „
1400 „ 1500
9 „
1300 „ 1400
8 „
1100 ,, 1300
7 „
1000 „ 1100
6 „
900 „ 1000
5 „
700 „ 900
4 „
600 „ 700
3 „
500 „ 600
2 „
300 „ 500
1 „
200 „ 300
0 „
100 „ 200
- 1 „
0 „ 100
2 „
T have not been able to test all these differences by reference to
historical events, and very likely, the earlier ones are to be received
with some degree of caution. I have, however, had quite ample
means of testing the accuracy of the allowance for last century
for dates between 1700 and 1752, up to which latter year the old
style continued to be in vogue. The means I refer to are not the
dates given by aoy of our authors of battles by sea and land, but the
admirable series of papers in the Steele-and- Addison " Spectator,"
each headed by its appropriate week-day and date.
As an example, let us take the first of the series —
Thursday, 1st March, 1710-1711.
This is instructive, even as it stands, as it shows that the men and
philosophers of Queen Anne's time had not yet given up the
266 Philosophical Society of Glasyow.
" Supputation " of beginning tho year on the 25th of March.
Taking the year, then, as 1711, we have by our rule —
- - m * (■?>. - » (n
= 4 + 2 — 2 = 4.
W D (remembering to add 11 for difference of style)
= ( + 7 )r ~~ see PaSe 262'
= 4 — i.e., Thursday.
Culling another from the same series, wi> find the following to be
the date of one of Addison's finest efforts — the Vision of Mirzah : —
Saturday, 1st September, 1711.
Here N = 4.
AndW D = (4 + (1 t ."> + 4)r _ see page 2G2.
= 6 — i.e., Saturday.
I conclude with the following, which has reference to an event
at once both of local and national importance — the sitting of the
General Assembly in Glasgow Cathedral in 1638. Baillie gives
the day and date of the first sitting sis
Wednesday, 2\st November, 1638.
Now 21st Nov., 1638, O.S. = 1st Dec., 1638, N.S.
AndN = (»), + (*),_,(£), = 3 + 9 = 12orr,
W D = (5 -7 +- )r = 3 — i.e., Wednesday.
J. D
Mr. Hon. K. Bromhead oh Purifying Glasgow Harbour, <Lc. 207
II. — On Purifying the Glasgow Harbour and rapidly removing the
Sewage. By Horatio K. Bromhead, A.K.I.B.A., Glasgow.
[Paper read before the Philosophical Society of Glasgow, Dec. 4, 1878.]
Til at the various details of this paper may l>e more thoroughly
understood, it is thought advisable first to state the recommenda-
tions that are made from them.
Proposal, — It is proposed to form an exit channel from Govan
Ferry to the Ayrshire coast. It would be a tidal channel, between
high and low water, having a sectional area of 22 square yards.
At Govan it would have gates, so that the harbour water could
enter the exit channel, but not return from it back into the harbour.
At the coast it would have gates, so that the contents of the exit
channel could run out into the sea when the tide was down, but
the sea could not return into it. In this way a great quantity of
harbour water would enter the exit channel, and carry the sewage-
with it into the sea at every tide.
The leading features that render this desirable and effective are-
as follows: —
Sewage Suj)j>ly. — The sewage pouring into the harbour is com-
posed of half-a-gallon of excrement to forty-five gallons of water,
and sundry other items, from 7 1 0,000 people. There are 1 68£ gallons
to a cubic yard. From these figures it appears that there are
200,000 cubic yards of sewage poured into the harbour every day,
Water Supply. — The river water supply is enormously fluctuat-
ing. The smallest quantity I have measured as flowing over the
weir is 5,000 cubic yards per day. The largest quantity is
3,837,416 cubic yards. It would take more than two years of
this smallest quantity to come to as much as the one day of large
quantity. There have been days with a great deal less and days
with a great deal more. The large overflows are of brief duration
in comparison with the average and the small overflows. Including
for small streams, there appears to be a part of the year with
200,000 cubic yards per day of rain or river water; a smaller part
of the year with 50,000 cubic yards per day; and exceptional brief
spates of enormous quantity.
268 Philosophical Society of Glasgow.
River Water Movement Seawards. — The average sectional area of
Glasgow harbour is about 1,200 square yards. Its ordinary daily
incomings are 200,000 cubic yards of sewage and 200,000 cubic
yards of river water. The mixture consequently has at Govan
Ferry a movement towards the sea of 334 yards per day, apart
from the tidal movement, at high-water. At low-water the
mixture in the harbour is elongated or stretched out so as to reach
past Elderslie, and at the following high tide is brought back to
within 167 yards of the starting point. In other words, a float or
leaf placed at Govan Ferry at high- water would, apart from chance
interruption, be carried seawards for six hours, and then be brought
back to within 167 yards of its starting point, when it would again
commence a second similar to and fro journey with the next tide,
and be brought back to within 334 yards of its original starting
point at Govan Ferry.
When the ordinary supply of river water is reduced in dry
weather to 50,000 cubic yards, the supply of sewage and water is
sufficient to displace and refill, in 22 days, the whole 2£ miles of
harbour, from the Weir to Govan Ferry, with four-fifths sewage
and one-fifth water. This is at high-water, and at low-water the
mixture is elongated, and at the following high tide is brought
back to within 105 yards of its starting point — this progress being
repeated at every tide.
Gliannel Water Movement Seawards. — If the proposed exit
channel were made without any gates, it would fill from the sea
and re-empty into the sea once every tide, or twice a-day. It
holds 1,000,000 cubic yards.
If the proposed gates were added to the exit channel, some very
important and unexpected results would occur. On a day when the
tide is high at 12 o'clock mid-day at Wemyss Bay, it is liigh tide
at Glasgow a little before 2 o'clock p.m., or two hours later — so it
takes two hours for the tidal wave to travel that distance. If,
therefore, the gates at the coast end of the exit channel were closed
at the rising of the tide, and the gates at the » harbour end of
the exit channel open, the climax of the tidal wave that left the
coast at 12 mid-day would reach the harbour at Glasgow at nearly
2 p.m., and, passing down the exit channel, would only reach the
coast end two hours later, or at 4 o'clock p.m., when the tide at the
coast was approaching low-water, and would rush into the sea
through the opened gates with great freedom and velocity.
The ingoing of the harbour water into the exit channel would also
Mr. Hor. K. Bromhead on Purifying Glasgow Harbour, &c. 269
have a special velocity. This is readily illustrated by comparing its
incoming with the incoming of the sea into a river. When the water
entering the mouth of a river is at its greatest height or bulk, then
the speed of ingoing is slowing and almost stationary, in anticipa-
tion of the turning of the tide. In the exit channel this would
not be so, because there is no return of the tide, it being prevented
by the gates. When the water entering the exit channel is at its
greatest bulk, then the speed of ingoing is at its greatest velocity,
and only just commencing to be reduced.
Another interesting illustration of the increased speed of the
exit channel is obtained by comparing it with the speed of the
river in the matter of continuity. The river has considerable
speed, but it is obtained under the very great disadvantage of
having its direction changed four times a-day into a motion in the
opposite direction. The exit channel has no such reverse action,
consequently the impetus of each wave goes on until it has ex-
pended itself.
Diluting and Purifying. — When the ordinary supply of river
water is reduced in summer dry weather to 50,000 cubic yards, the
harbour becomes in 22 days filled with four-fifths sewage and one-
fifth water, and there is produced the well-known extra-offensive-
ness, which is thus shown to be the result of a want«of dilution,
soirietimes aggravated by increase of temperature.
But, on the other hand, there are occasional spates from heavy
rain-falls, bringing 3,837,400 cubic yards of river water per day.
Of course on such occasions there is still the uniform quantity of
200,000 cubic yards of sewage per day. A day and a half of such
weather brings enough of the united supply to fill the whole
harbour in the proportion of 1 sewage to 19 of water. On these
brief occasions it is observable that the harbour is not noxious or
offensive. We have here the information that the sewage and
water going away in the exit channel in proportion of 1 in 20
would be correspondingly inoffensive.
It is not at first easy to see the possibility of water dilution
being successful in rendering the excrement inoffensive. The
limited quantity of pure water that we at present add to the
excrement produces sewage which is grossly offensive. But
sewage does not disprove the possibility of there being a zero, or
degree of attenuated dilution, above which offensiveness is ob-
servable, and below which offensiveness does not exist. This is
illustrated by a spate in the river. River water is loaded ^\\tam\>A.
270 PhOowpkiad Society of Gkugow.
and earth — a capital deodorizer. The common water which is
implied and called into requisition by this scheme has. provided
that it is supplied fresh and untainted and in sufficient quantity,
very valuable, though limited, qualifications for diluting sewage
and rendering it inoffensive. The mixture referred to as sewage
is composed of one day s deposit, which is half-a-gallon of excre-
ment to 45 gallons of water. This is in the proportion of 1 to 90.
It therefore follows that the 20 times further dilution of the exit-
channel Is a mixture in the proportion of 1 to 1800, the greater
part of which enormous dilution is common water, with a small
quantity of earth or mud and air in it Certainly, it is quite true
that the amount of earth and air is very small ; but so also is the
amount of sewage, and the earth mav often be as much as the
sewage. This is having the advantages of the dry earth system
combined with the water carriage system, without the disadvantages
of either.
These Propositions are formulated : —
1. Common water lias the power of deodorizing and precipitating
a certain very small quantity of sewage. This mixture is called a
deadened solution, its zero varying according to the quality of the
water.
2. Such a deadened solution cannot deodorize any further
quantity of sewage, because the slight power of its water is ex-
hausted; consequently a further addition of sewage produces
offcnsiveness.
3. The addition of the requisite quantity and quality of water
acts upon the excess of sewage and reproduces inoffensiveness.
The proposed exit channel would dilute the sewage in 20 times
its quantity of water : or it would dilute its excrement in 1800
times its bulk of water. This mixture would be much more fresh
and pure than the stagnant water of a canal. In fact, the dilution
proposed in the exit channel does now occur to the sewage after
it passes Greenock, and does produce a tolerably satisfactory result,
that enables it to l>c said that the water of the exit channel
would be absolutely inoffensive, and perfectly suitable for jK)uring
into the sea without a shadow of complaint against it
Sewage has been taken out of the sewers, and diluted in ten
times its quantity of uncontaminated river water, and the result
found to l>e immediate deodorization and the precipitation of the
sewage within one hour, the liquor becoming clear and bright.
Speed of Removal. — The sewage in this attenuated dilution is
Mr. Hor. K. Bromhead on Purifying Glasgow Harbour, <Scc. 271
taken away in the exit channel 500 times faster than it is at
present between Glasgow and Dumbarton.
The Accumulation of Sewage. — In the river down to Dumbarton
there are 118,000,000 cubic yards of sewage diluted with water,
or water diluted with sewage, it is impossible to say which.
Its Removal. — The exit channel removes 4,000,000 cubic yards
per day. This is at the rate of removing the contents of nearly a
mile of the harbour every day, or nearly half-a-inile at every tide.
It therefore follows that the removal of the accumulation in the
river is only a question of so many days.
Connection with present Drains. — When the accumulation of the
river has been removed, the exit channel would commence its per-
manent work only.
Scheme A. If the sewage were still permitted to bleed into the
harbour, its contents would be kept by the exit channel in the
proportion of 1 sewage to 20 of water. The rapid removal would
prevent any further contamination from taking place.
Scheme B. If the sewage of the south side of the river were
delivered into the exit channel, and only the rest of the sewage
allowed to bleed into the harbour, its contents would average
1 sewage to 26 of water.
Scheme C. Undoubtedly it would be additionally more perfect,
and quite easy, to also lead all the north side sewage along the
quay, diluting, and assisting its progress by the inlet of harbour
water, and carrying it across under the river at the Green, and
into the exit channel, which, being at low-water, would avoid the
expensive difficulties and pumping that interfere with crossing
the river with ordinary drainage, and then delivering into ordinary
high-level drainage.
Advantages of the Scheme. — The existing sewers do not require
any alteration.
Pumping, clarifying, farming, and such like offensive and
injurious operations, are not required.
It is self-acting, and does not require heavy working expenses.
It does not involve the passage of offensive matters through any
locality, or the delivery of anything offensive anywhere.
Its capacity can be readily enlarged or supplemented should such
an improbable event become desirable.
Every populous place in the neighbourhood could at any time
have its sewage removed by the exit channel, and contribute a
share of its cost.
272 Philosophical Society oj Glasgow.
QUESTIONS.
Sir James Bad? — What would be the width and the depth
of the proposed exit channel) Also, how is it proposed to get
over the high ground above Greenock \
Mr. Bromhead — The sectional area is 22 square yards, which
is equal to 4 yards by 5 J yards. It passes Greenock and Port-
Glasgow by means of a tunnel, and there are several other short
tunnels. The exit channel may be covered or uncovered, as most
convenient
Councillor W. R. W. Smith — What is the length of the
channel ?
Mr. Bromhead — Twentv-five miles.
Councillor Reid — What is the level of the exit channel as
compared with the bottom of the Clyde?
Mr. B ROM head — The bottom of the exit channel would be two
or three feet below low- water. Between the channel and the
bottom of the harbour will probably be 10 feet.
A Member — That being so, how do you propose to cross the
river with the north side sewage 1
Mr. Bromhead — The crossing of the river would be in the
solid rock above the weir. East of the weir the bed of the river is
considerably above the low-water level of the harbour. There is
what may be called rather an amusing joke about the weir. It is
to be removed, under the impression that the tide will wear away
the sandy bed of the river east of the weir, and so a fine scour of
the river will thereafter be the result. But there is solid rock in
the bed of the river east of the weir, and its highest point comes to
alK)ut 2 feet 6 inches below the weir, or perhaps 1 8 feet above the
bf*d of the harbour. I propose to cut the cross sewer into this
rock.
Sir James Bain — The rapidity of exit would not, I think, be
very great. How do you propose to dredge the deposit?
Mr. Bromhead — I do not expect much deposit, for that I think
only occurs in the river when there is no motion during the change
of the tide; and there is no such change in the direction of the
current in the exit channel However, there will always be a
power in reserve, in spring-tides of extra height, to give a special
Question on Mr. Bromheads Paper. 273
flush. Should that not be sufficient, the sludge must be dredged in
the usual way.
Note. — Sewage in its early stages floats, and the exit channel
takes it away and into the sea within a few hours of its formation.
This is altogether different from the condition of the river, where
it is dragged to and fro by the tide for many weeks, until it falls.
The Hon. Lord Provost — What is the proportion of sewage
in the water?
Mr. Bromhead — 1 excrement to 1800 water.
The Hon. Lord Provost — There must be a serious error there.
In his scheme, Mr. Bateman's calculation was 56,000,000 gallons
for twenty-four hours.
Mr. Bromhead — There is no error. The 200,000 cube yards
of sewage is rather more than the amount Mr. Bateman calculates
upon. Only there is this difference in my favour, — his scheme
must allow for a large quantity of rain water. This increases the
size of his pipes. But such allowance is not required for my
scheme.
Note. — Mr. Bateman (p. 8) estimates the sewage at 32,305,000
gallons, or 191,700 cube yards. On the following page of his
Report he makes allowance for burns and land-water, for trade
supply of water, and for the extra size required because the house
and sewage supply is not equally distributed over the twenty-four
hours; thus bringing up the total to 56,830,000 gallons, or 337,270
cube yards. This increase is not sewage. In one sense it there-
fore follows that the principle of Mr. Bateman's scheme has a
disadvantage of 75 per cent, in the matter of sewage capacity.
Sir James Bain — Mr. Bateman and others have calculated that
when the weir is removed, it would admit of fifty acres of addi-
tional water eight feet deep. How will that affect the state of the
river, and also your scheme]
Mr. Bromhead — Those who have so calculated have overlooked,
or not known of, the rock in the bed of the river.
Note. — The removal of the weir will not bring any more river
water down the river. Neither will it bring more fresh sea water
up the river. The extra space would be filled with sewage mixture
in a few days. Consequently the result would be a threefold
nuisance. First, there would be increased capacity for holding
and retaining the mixture of sewage and rain water that the city
Vol. XL— No. 2. T
274 Philosophical Society of Glasgow.
and tbe water-shed supply ; so that the sewage would be a longer
time than it now is in getting beyond the harbour to the wider
lower part of the river, where it now becomes further diluted by
the water of the river Leven, and precipitated by the sea water.
Second, the delay would produce more offensivonoss and sewer gas
and more precipitation that would have to be dredged away.
Third, the whole nuisance would thereby be extended more to the
east end of the city, without the faintest further dilution or
improvement to the harbour mixture, but to its delay and
detriment.
Apart from the exit channel, there are many advantages in
retaining the weir. Tt would be best to put a new one 3 feet
higher, so that no harbour water could get over it to pollute the
east end of the city. Then the raised river would be a splendid
improvement to Glasgow Green, and a valuable fresh-water area
for boating and recreation. The exit channel does away with
every reason for removing the weir.
Sir James Bain — If the exit channel is commenced at Govan.
does it not strike you that, from that eastwards, the harl>our will
be no better than it is now?
Mr. Bromhead — Govan Ferry is chosen as the chief point of
exit, expressly because the high tide contents of the harbour
would, by the tidal movement, be carried to and fro past the
mouth of the exit channel twice every day, and thus be kept
quite fresh.
Note. — This would produce much the same result as if there
were no tidal movement, and it were possible to move the mouth
of the exit channel slowly up and down the harbour twice a day,
abstracting from each part in turn, and removing nearly the whdle
contents every day. The removed quantity would be made up by
the river water coming over the weir, supplemented in dry weather
by water coming up the river from the sea.
The Hon. Lord Provost — The area of Mr. Batcman's high-
level pipe is 60 to 100 square feet, you say the level of high tide at
the coast is 2 feet 6 inches lower than in the harbour. Then,
suppose you had a fall of 8 feet, that would be 10 feet. Mr.
Bateman has an artificial fall of 10 feet between Parti ck and
Dalmuir, and, of course, there would be a greater velocity in that
sewer than in yours. I do not see that the power you indicate to
four exit channel is possible.
Questions on Mr. Bromhead's Paper. 275
Mr. Bromhead — The answer is very simple, yet requires study
to be understood. Mr. Bateman is using the power of gravity for
motion. This scheme is worked by tidal power. (Applausa)
That is to say, by the power of the moon, or rather, astronomically.
Note. — Hydraulic tables of velocities and heads of water are
made from the facts of non-tidal streams and tubes, and not from
tidal movement. If the erroneous attempt is made to apply them
to tidal movement, the absurd result is obtained that there cannot
be the tidal movement which is known to exist in the Clyde. I
am not aware of any tables for tidal movement, and analogous
inference must be taken into consideration for this exit channel.
As one instance, we find that the Avon fills to a height of more
than 20 feet, and becomes empty again in about three hours.
Thirteen miles up from the mouth of that river the tide rises 18
inches higher than at the mouth of the river, and that altitude is
attained a few minutes after high tide at the mouth of the river,
which is at right angles to the Severn, from which it fills, and
cannot, owing to the formation of the mouth of the Avon, receive
any impetus therefrom. But it is not necessary to enter into the
whole tidal question. Enough for present purposes to mention
that the exit channel contains 1,000,000 cube yards. It requires
no intricate calculation or skill to see that the exit channel would
at least fill and become enipty once every tide, or twice a day, by
gravitation alone. This gives 2,000,000 cube yards, or a dilution
of ten to one of sewage; a dilution that has been experimented
with, and found perfectly deodorized, and much superior to
ordinary canal water. The further capacity of the exit channel,
by a careful examination, keeping in view the arguments under
heading " Channel Movement Seawards," can be scientifically
ascertained to be more than what is indicated in the paper.
Any unskilled person can see by those arguments on velocity,
that there must be a considerable increase in quantity over the
1,000,000 cube yards each tide (the one in ten dilution), although
that increase is not in the least necessary for establishing the
validity of the scheme.
The Hon. Lord Provost — Your Scheme C involves taking the
sewage of the north side of the river across the river opposite the
Green. Are you aware that Mr. Bateman requires three pumping
engines on the north side to do that?
Mr. Bromhead — Quite so. That scheme is under great diffi-
276 Philosophical Society of Glasgow.
culties and disadvantages in pumping to higher levels, which are
not required in my scheme.
The Hon. Lord Provost — He only requires to take it to a
higher level on the north side as near the roadway as possible,
even with all that pumping.
This concluded the questioning.
The President — I am sure we are extremely indebted to Mr.
Bromhead for his paper, and our first duty is to give him a cordial
vote of thanks. (Applausa)
We shall now take the Discussion.
Discussion on Mr. Bromhead's Paper.
Mr. Schuman — I think if sea water were pumped to higher
levels, and used to flush the sewers, and a quantity of it added to
the ordinary channel, the nuisance would be to a great extent
abated, or altogether abolished.
Mr. Coleman — Sea water contains a solution of other substances
and salts liable to decompose. From a chemical point of view, I
am afraid that Mr. Schuman's suggestion would not be of any use.
The mixture of sea water and sewage would be more likely to be a
nuisance than a mixture of fresh water and sewage.
Mr. Moore, C.E., having been invited by the President to
express his opinions, said the discussion had gone over such an
extensive range that, rather than attempt to discuss any of the
arguments, he would prefer bringing up a fresh paper reviewing
Mr. Bromhead's scheme.
Professor Jas. Thomson — I would say that under this plan it
would be by gravitation the water would flow down the exit
channel. I cannot enter into a comparison of the scheme with any
others that have been proposed; but such a scheme as that now
laid before us is one certainly well worthy of being considered — I
mean of being considered and investigated, by procuring estimates
and so forth. (Applause.) There is nothing unreasonable in the
idea of having a current up a large channel, and a current of less
pure water down a smaller channel artificially made. (Applause.)
Discussion on Mr. Bromhead's Paper. 277
Mr. Honeyman — I have never been a strong advocate for the
purification of the Clyde. It has never been proved that the river
did the slightest particle of harm to tho inhabitants who live near
it It seems, however, that our Authorities may be forced to do
something expensive to satisfy laws that have recently been passed.
But there is no necessity for anything of the sort, and these
schemes should be of such a character as to meet the requirements
of the case only as far as the law requires them to be met. I
think, as Professor Thomson has said, that Mr. Bromhead's scheme
is worthy of being carefully considered. (Applause.) The float
shows that anything in suspension in the water is carried back-
wards and forwards in the tides, and takes a number of days before
it reaches Dalmuir.
The Hon. Lord Provost — I think that the area of the exit
channel is just about' three times the area of Mr. Bateman's largest
sewer, and that it would only admit of two volumes of salt water
to one of sewage. I feel that a dilution only to that extent would
be a nuisance to the sea-side, and would not be permitted. I
believe it will be absolutely necessary to purify to a very consider-
able extent before you put it there ; and if that is so, I think the
most economical plan is to have it purified as near Glasgow as
possible, and return it to the river as soon as possible. I think
evidence bears out that any injury that is done is done before the
sewage is emptied into the Clyde at all (Applause.) Of course
it is unfortunately not what is necessary that we have to deal
with. We have an Act which I do not think is necessary. I
think we should aim at some modification of that Act for such a
tidal river as the Clyde.
Our President, I think, would tell us that if we are obliged to
resort to pumping, we shall perhaps increase the injury at present
resulting to Glasgow from this sewage.
Mr. Dunlop — I think a word has to be said in favour of Mr.
Bromhead's scheme that has not yet been said by any speaker.
By Mr. Bromhead's scheme it is not proposed to take the sewage,
except in a diluted form, down through this exit channel; there-
fore what goes through will be a comparatively harmless class of
sewage, inasmuch as it will be the river water in its contaminated
condition, which is comparatively pure. Then this exit channel will
be closed at the outer end when the tide is advancing, and open at
the Glasgow end when its own bed is empty and the harl
278 Philosophical Society of Glasyow.
water at its highest. You have therefore an empty channel, and
a power which is simply gravitation operating in the carrying of
this head of water down through this empty exit channel. There
is a good deal to bo said in favour of the system. The only
difficulty that occurred to me at first was, that when the floodgates
were suddenly oj)ened there would be a current so serious as greatly
to disturb the regular current of the river, and probably somewhat
disturb the navigation.
Mr. Bromuead — The gates would not be suddenly opened at
high tide; but opened from the commencement of the rise of the
tide.
Mr. Dunlop. — There is some thine in the .scheme that is worth v
of consideration, and it has not so many objections as at first sight
naturally arise. It is a very important engineering question that
is discussed, and it should be well considered by those who art*
able to estimate the value of the scheme from an engineering
point of view.
Dr. Wallace — I think that by Mr. Bromhead's Schemes A
and B, the bed of the river at the harbour would still be to some
extent a cesspool. It would be some 10 feet below the exit
channel, and collect a considerable portion of sedimentary matter.
That is a great evil. At present, in the summer at least, that
sediment throws off bubbles of gas, and I think it would still do so
if Mr. Bromhead'8 scheme was carried out without intercepting
the sewers.
I am afraid Parliament would not sanction anv scheme to take
the sewage to any other place.
The President — That last jxrint referred to by Dr. Wallace is
of considerable importance. If I remember rightly there have
been cases where the application of towns to deliver sewage
through private property has been decided by the English Courts
against them.
Mr. Buomiikad expressed his thanks for the frank and kindly
criticisms, and said he hoped it was not rude to suggest, most
respectfully, that the scheme was not capable of being fairly appre-
hended and criticised offhand, and that he trusted it would receive
a careful consideration, when he had no doubt that all objection*
would be found to be groundless.
Discussion on Mr. Bromhkad's Paper. 279
Note. — There appears to be a much overlooked and very im-
portant difference between treating sewage in its ordinary and in
a much diluted state. My experiments lead to the conclusion that
such sewage as that of Glasgow, diluted with river water and
minutely subdivided as it would be by the grinding action of the 25
miles of exit channel, would receive sea water without any resulting
oftensiveness, and precipitate. Nature's chemical laws are strongly
antagonistic to keeping sewage or excrement undiluted. Artificial
chemistry appears to have been unable to deal with sewage, or to
increase or give sufficient power to water to overcome it in its
ordinary or condensed state, chiefly from the reason of not being
able to get at the particles, owing to their want of subdivision. It
appears to me that sewage must be diluted to the capacity of the
water. Sewer gas is an indication of decomposition going on with
excessive intensity, and implying a need of more dilution. Sewage
added to nine times its bulk of untainted river water produces a
mixture that precipitates within half-an-hour of being left at rest,
and leaves a bright clear water in which the eye and nose and
permangunate of potash cannot detect any trace of sewage.
There are those who think that mixing sewage with earth, or
returning it to earth in some way, is the proper course, and that
theory is true natural chemistry. But, practically, it involves an
impossible amount of labour and steam-power to disintegrate and
mix, without which failure has invariably been the result.
The necessity of the perpetual exertion of enormous artificial
power is an overwhelming fault in any scheme.
The contention here is that the exit channel must unavoidably
do all the labour in the only true natural way, and must unavoid-
ably disintegrate and deodorize, and that the sea water must
unavoidably precipitate the extreme dilution directly it is delivered
into the sea.
[Relative Annual Expenses.
280
Philosophical Society of Glasgow.
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Mr. John Ferguson on Eleven Centuries of CJiemistry. 281
III. — Eleven Centuries of Chemistry. Address on resigning the
Presidency of the Chemical Section of the Philosophical
Society. By John Ferguson, Esq., M.A., Professor of
Chemistry in the University of Glasgow.
[Read before the Chemical Section, November 11, 1878.]
In accordance with a promise I made at the close of last Session,
and seeing that I shall not have again an opportunity of addressing
the Section officially, I am now desirous of presenting to your
notice a few reflections on the science more especially cultivated
here, in continuation and conclusion of those which I have already
brought before you.*
I have been reminded by a look cast on chronological tables
that this year, 1878, is the centenary of the birth of two of the
most eminent discoverers of modern times, as well as that the year
'78 has been more or less notable in the byegone annals of
Chemistry. The title or idea of my present Address is, therefore,
" Eleven Centuries of Chemistry."
Eleven hundred from eighteen hundred and seventy-eight leaves
us with 778. I begin with that date, and ask what was known
of Chemistry, and who were the chemists ?
778. If chronology is to be depended on, a couple of years
earlier, that is, in 776-7, the first and greatest of the mediaeval
chemists had died. He was the first — because, although he him-
self speaks of the ancients, meaning thereby his forerunners,
nothing is known of those older chemists. He was the greatest —
because his works have completely eclipsed or superseded those of
his predecessors ; because he had the greatest reputation among
his .contemporaries; because his works were numerous and
important, his knowledge extensive and accurate, his theoretical
views far-reaching, his practice, based on his facts and theories,
logical and successful. His renown has come to us at the present
unabated, he is quoted in every period until now, and he is
referred to in the most recent text-books on pure and applied
Chemistry. His science is safe to be known to all future genera-
* Proceedings of the Philosophical Society of Glasgow, vol. x., p. 27
and p. 368.
282 PhilosopJUcal Society of Glasgow.
tions. This chemist then, whom, though dead by 777, we may
yet regard as the representative of 778, or of Chemistry in the
eighth century, and the starting-point of our reflections, was called
Dschabir, or more commonly Geber.
Hardly anything is known of liis life. He was an Arab, born
at Tarsus according to one account, was a pupil of Dschaafer ess-
Sadik, whose works he edited, and was himself the reputed author of
a vast number of works on almost every department of learning.
He is best known, however, by his writings on Chemistry, which
have descended to us in Latin translations made probably during
the Middle Ages from the Arabic. These translations were pub-
lished at the beginning of the sixteenth and during the seventeenth
centuries, and, from the Latin, versions were made into English,
French, and German. It was in 1678, just two hundred years
ago, that the English translation appeared, to which I shall refer
in due course.
From my having called Geber the greatest of mediaeval chemists,
I may have led you to expect something very wonderful, but it is
possible you may be disappointed when the extent of his know-
ledge and scope of his science are put before you. Let me give you
a short summary of both.
In his writings, then, Geber describes gold, silver, copper, tin,
lead, and iron, and mercury. The first six were recognized as
metals; their alloys were known, and their amalgams. That some
of these metals could be converted into earthy powders by burning
in the air, as well as by other processes, was also known. The
oxides best known were of copper, iron, and mercury, and the yellow
and red oxides of lead. White arsenic was a familiar substance,
and its power of whitening copper is referred to in support of the
author's general theory.
Sulphur was a substance regarded as of great value and impor-
tance. The native and purified sulphurs were made use of, but
precipitated sulphur is described as well. The element was dis-
solved in an alkaline menstruum, and this was decomposed with
acetic acid. Curiously, however, Geber does not remark the strong
fetid odour which is produced in this decomposition. The effect of
acting on copper and mercury with sulphur is specially referred to.
The alkaline carbonates are mentioned. Carbonate of potassium
was obtained from cream of tartar by ignition, solution, and
crystallization — sodic carbonate, or salt-alkali, from sea-shore plants.
Caustic alkali was got by acting on the carbonate with caustic
Mu. John Ferguson on Eleven Centuries of C/ceminlri/. 283
lime. But no real distinction was made between the carbonates
themselves, and between the alkalies in the mild and caustic states.
The mineral acids were employed. Sulphuric acid in an impure
state was got by distilling alum. This water, as it is called,
seems to have been used for acting on the metals, and on salts
and other compounds. Nitric acid, called dissolving or solutive
water, was prepared by distilling 1 lb. green vitriol, £ lb. nitre,
■\ lb. jameni alum. The red fumes which make their appearance
in this operation seem to be noticed. By mixing sal ammoniac,
or common salt, with the solutive water, a fluid was obtained
which Geber says will dissolve gold, sulphur, and silver. He is
right about two of these, but he is partially in error with regard
to silver.
Acetic acid or vinegar is repeatedly mentioned, and it was got
strong and pure by repeated distillation.
Geber's knowledge of saline substances was very considerable.
He describes three varieties of alum, green vitriol, sal ammoniac,
borax, saltpetre, common salt, nitrate of silver, corrosive sublimate,
and terchloride of gold in solution.
Besides these he must have known a number of other salts
produced by the mutual reactions of the strong acids with the
metals, but as he does not describe them distinctly, it is hardly
fair to enumerate them as part of his material. He describes,
however, one or two acids of organic origin, and their solvent
effects on certain substances.
Such is a brief catalogue of the substances or chemicals with
which Geber worked. What were the operations to which he
subjected them? They can be readily enumerated — solution,
filtration, and crystallization. He employed these for the prepara-
tion and purification of salts of various kinds. Digestion at various
degrees of heat was, of course, indispensable, as, for example, in
the sun, in hot ashes, in the water bath — which he is one of
the first chemists to describe — and in furnaces of different kinds.
The construction of furnaces was to the old chemists a matter
of the very greatest importance. At a time when there were
no thermometers,* no gas, no spirit-lamps, it is easy to under-
* The thermometer was invented early in the 17th century, but no exact
date is given. The earliest allusion to it for measuring differences of tempera
ture for chemical purposes which I have seen, is in Lefebure's Compleat
Body of Chymistry, Londou, 1C64. 4to, part i., p. 95. There is a drawing
of the instrument given besides.
284 Philosophical Society of Glasgow.
stand that the chemists must have had to content themselves
with very broad differences of temperature, and in fact they
could do little else than distinguish between, e.g., the tempera-
ture of boiling water and say a visible low red heat, between
that and a red heat, between that and a fire urged to its utmost
by vents and draught-holes placed in a particular way in the
furnace. So important, however, was this subject of heat and its
regulation felt, that Geber has written a separate treatise entitled,
" Of Furnaces. "
He was also quite familiar with the operations of cementation,
i.e., of purifying gold by means of a mixture of an alkaline car-
bonate and pounded bricks, and of cupellation, i.e., of assaying or
purifying gold by heating it with lead in a porous crucible called
a cupel, made of pounded bone ash. The account he gives of this
operation — apparently one of the oldest in metallurgical chemistry
— is one of the most complete in the whole of Ins writings, and is
so exact that it might be followed almost at the present day.
Indeed, it bears a singular resemblance to the account of the same
process given by the late Professor W. A. Miller, in his " Elements
of Chemistry," part ii.
Another important operation was distillation, the separation of a
more volatile from a less volatile fluid. It was employed for the
preparation of nitric acid, the purification of acetic acid, and such like
purposes. This has always been one of the most important of
chemical processes, as it is undoubtedly one of the oldest. It was
in use long before Geber's time, for, so far as one can gather, it was
employed by the chemists at the beginning of our era — say 500
years before Geber. Indeed, there is every likelihood that so
obvious and efficient a process must have been invented almost
as soon as attention was directed to the ebullition and evaporation
of fluids. The distillation described is of three kinds — ordinary
distillation by ascent, distillation by descent, and what is called
distillation by a filter — a species of filtration in which a bunch of
fibres, or a piece of porous paper or cloth, is hung over the edge of
a vessel with one end immersed in the fluid requiring filtration.
Then, by capillary attraction, the fluid drains through the fibres and
drops into a vessel placed beneath the projecting end.
And now, what was the theory which Geber maintained and
tided to apply practically, besides defending it against the
assaults of those persons who decried it? It was this: —
The metals (then known) are bodies composed of two funda-
Mr. John Ferguson on Eleven Centuries of Cliemistry. 285
mental elements, one called mercury, the other sulphur. When
these elements are in their purest possible state, most intimately
mixed and digested with each other for a very long time in the
earth, so as to form a perfectly equal and homogeneous body, the
result is gold ; and when the elemental sulphur is white, silver.
The other metals are compounded of these same elemental sub-
stances, but they are in themselves less pure, being mingled with
various earthy feculencies, and are not so thoroughly incorporated
with each other. Hence, while gold and silver will stand to be
heated in the air without change of substance, while they are
dense and fulgent, highly extensible under the hammer, sonorous,
and so on, and most, difficult of attack by ordinary spirits and
bodies, and will bear the trial of cementation and cupellation, all
the other metals are acted on by fire and various agents. They
have some of the properties of the nobler and more perfect metals,
but they are quite deficient in others. It seems certain, however,
from the changes observed in mines— for instance, iron tools in
copper mines being gradually converted into copper; copper waters
evaporated and digested in the sand by the heat of the sun yielding
scales of most pure and perfect gold — that it is the intention of
nature gradually to perfect these inferior metals, and by slow con-
coction to convert them into gold. By artificial processes, also, it
is seen that these less perfect metals can be changed into one
another. Geber asserts that he has seen lead converted by calcina-
tion into tin and vice versa. Now, since by a process of ripening,
nature perfects the inferior metals, if there could be discovered any
method of hastening this process, there should be nothing to prevent
this conversion or transmutation being effected by human agency.
According to the author, there is a way of effecting this, and a
large part of his writings is devoted to the method. The trans-
mutation is effected by the use of certain substances, which he calls
medicines ; and by a very clear course of argument he shows that
there must be two for each imperfect metal — one medicine for the
white, -i.e. silver, and another for the red, i.e. gold. But he asserts
that after an immense deal of labour he had discovered one medi-
cine that would be efficacious when applied to any of the metals to
ensure the transmutation of it to gold, and another, to silver. The
idea he certainly works out very clearly; but the chief difficulty one
has now, is in trying to understand what could have made such a clear
thinker and observer as Geber suppose that he had in any particu-
lar case transmuted one metal into another. The only explanation
286 Philosophical Society of Glasgow.
I can offer is, that there was the preconceived idea of the possibility,
or, rather, natural necessity of progression towards j>erfection among
the metals, that the eduction of one metal from another by a
chemical process was interpreted, from ignorance of the permanence
of bodies, to be production of the one metal from the other, and
that he failed to verify by actual tests the results of his operations,
and was thus untrue to his own principles. That Geber believed
in transmutation, in a transmuting substance or substances, and in
his having succeeded, is apparent in his writings.
The above, the composition of the metals, is the great principle
which pervades his works ; but one sees incidentally remarks of a
general kind, which show that the author attempted to assign
reasons for the phenomena he observed, or that these phenomena
were merely illustrations of certain general principles. For ex-
ample, the notion of affinity makes its appearance in its original
form, viz., that of relationship. One substance acts upon another,
because there is some kind of communion between them. Mercury
amalgamates, therefore, rapidly with gold, and lead, and tin, but
less readily with silver and copper, and not at all with iron, because
it has so little mercury in its composition. From this he draws
very cleverly a conclusion which I give in the original words
(Russell's translation, p. 160): —
" Study in all your works that argent vive may excel in the com-
mixtion. And if you can perfect by argentvive only, you will be the
searcher out of a most precious perfection ; and of the perfection
of that, which overcomes the work of nature. For you may cleanse
it most inwardly, to which nmndification Nature cannot reach. But
the probation of this, viz. that those bodies which contain a greater
quantity of argentvive, are of greater perfection, is their easie
reception of argentvive. For we see bodies of perfection amicably
to embrace argentvive."
Tn the preceding I have culled just a few of the leading points
of interest which are to be met with in the books of this father of
modern chemistry, as he is not inappropriately termed. Were this
a suitable opportunity, and if there were time enough it would be
easy by giving quotations and descriptions to show how far the
writer had advanced in the knowledge of certain classes of sub-
stances and reactions, and how sound his view was of the relations
of man and nature. But as this would occupy a succession of
hours I cannot undertake the task now. My object at present is
rather to show the sum of his knowledge, and wo find it comprised
Mr. John Feuguson oil Eleven Centuries of Chemistry. 287
in this very short statement : There are six metals and mercury,
sulphur, and arsenic. There are two or three acids — solvents — and
there is a variety of middle minerals and salts, some soluble and
some insoluble. The substances, when subjected to certain
operations, can be altered, decomposed, combined in a variety of
ways. The agents, and processes, and apparatus are all of use for
the great object of the whole science and art of Chemistry, viz.,
to transmute the imperfect or inferior metals into the superior
|>erfect metals, gold and silver.
I have spent some time upon this author, partly because of his
own very great merit, and partly because no theory ever broached
in Chemistry lias endured for such a length of time as his, has had
so romantic a history, and has had such an influence. So far as
the mere question of duration is concerned, no single author and
no theory have survived as these have done. Not only were the
opinions and ideas of Geber quoted by most of his successors, but
his works liave been often printed, and an edition appeared in
German, with a commentary, so late as 1792. Nay, more, there
was printed and published in London in the year 1850 a very
singular work entitled A Suggestive Enquiry into tlie Hermetic
Mystery, in which, among many others, Geber's works and views
about transmutation are referred to, and apparently in perfectly
good faith. I should not be surprised, indeed, to hear of some one at
the present moment studying Geber's lx>oks, trusting implicitly in
his views, and endeavouring to perfect the impure and imperfect
metals by working on the lines indicated by him.
Quite distinct, however, from this particular persistence of
Geber's doctrines to the present, the consideration of which would
lead me into a totally different route from that which I have
proposed to myself to follow in this address, there is the legitimate
historical continuation of these same views in a different direction,
and leading to quite different results. It is this continuation I
propose to follow up, and, according to the title of my address, I
should take the time bv centuries.
978. For two of these centuries, from 777, the date of
Geber's death, to 978, I have found hardly any name in chemistry
at which I could halt. It is true that in 978 Avicenna was born, but
though Avicenna was distinguished as a physician, or at all events
as the great systematizer of medicine for the middle ages, and
though he seems to have believed in the general principle of trans-
mutation, he made no advances, and rather employed Chemistry as
288 Philosophical Society of Glasgoic.
an aid to medicine and pharmacy. It must not be forgotten,
however, that the influence he exercised as a physician was literally
unbounded down to the sixteenth century. Just as the church held
men's minds enthralled on theology, and philosophy, and every-day
life, so Avicenna's word was final in medicine, and was worth any
number of other men's reasons. This lasted until the sixteenth
century, when the influence of the church was attacked by Luther,
and that of Avicenna was demolished by Paracelsus.
From 978, the birth year of Avicenna, down to 1278, there
is again hardly a name to be quoted in the History of Chemistry.
The only exceptions, perhaps, are Albertus Magnus, who was
born in 1193, and died about 1280; Roger Bacon, born about
1214, died 1274; Michael the Scot, bom about 1200, died about
1270-80. These are names better known in the history of philo-
sophy, and physics, and Aristotelian learning, than in Chemistry.
All three are credited with chemical writings ; but these contain little
more than a recapitulation of Gebers doctrines: the theory of
composition and transmutation is the same, and as for the positive
knowledge of substances there is nothing to add.
1278. Perhaps the true representative of Chemistry in 1278 is
Raymund Lully, who was born in the island of Majorca in 1 235,
and died in 1315.* About this time, therefore, he was in his forty-
third year, and he had already spent an adventurous life. He had
travelled in Spain, and Italy, and France, and Africa, studying
Arabic, and trying to convert the infidels. In Milan he
took to alchemy, and, long after, he succeeded in preparing the
philosopher's stone, with which in England he effected several
historical transmutations. These appear in all the histories by
the partisans and defenders of alchemy as among the best authen-
ticated cases. Apart from this, however, there is his actual
Chemistry, which remains in his very numerous writings. His
general theoretical views, like those of Bacon, Albertus Magnus,
and Arnold of Villanova, are still Geber's. He believed in the
composition of the metals, and of necessity in their relationship
and mutual transformation. He was, besides, quite familiar with
all the facts of the science that had been discovered in the 500
years which had elapsed from the days of Geber. For example, he
could prepare alcohol by distilling red wine, and he could make it
* Some say 1 335. There is a good deal of confusion abont the events of
Lully's life.
Mk. John Ferguson on Eleven Centuries of Chemistry. 289
stronger and more volatile by distilling it over carbonate of potas-
sium. He also knew that it was inflammable. He is the first to
mention carbonate of ammonia (sal volatile), and to show that it is
precipitated by addition of alcohol to its aqueous solution. He
was, besides, a clever manipulator, and describes various plans he
adopted to effect his aims. He made use of lutes in distillation, to
prevent the escape of the volatile portions, and he coated his glass
vessels with clay, to prevent them cracking by exposure to heat.
There is no doubt, however, that in Raymund Lully there was
a good deal of the charlatan, and, in fact, his life is that of a busy
adventurer, who rather looked to transmutation as a means of
getting money for his ideas about waging war against and con-
verting Turks and infidels, than for love of science and the solution
of a great problem. He complains bitterly, indeed, of the time he
had spent over the works of Geber, and the futility of his exer-
tions, and said that it was never by reading these, or any other
books, that the great mystery could be attained.
1278-1478. It had been found, at last, by slow experience, that
while certain actions and products were easy to obtain, the thing for
which all the trouble was taken always slipped through the grasp
of the experimenter, while the belief in its possibility took stronger
hold on men's minds than ever. Hence, in the century, or rather
the two centuries, succeeding Lully, from 1278 down to 1478, should
be placed the period of alchemy pure and simple, during which the
attempt to realise in practice the problem which wre have seen
stated originally and clearly by Geber, had, in the 700 years which
had elapsed since his death, very much altered its character. It had
become less definite, less precise in men's minds. Investigation and
experiment, even with a quite mistaken aim, had increased the
knowledge of different bodies, had brought new properties to light,
and had thereby complicated the question. And on the other
hand, men with deficient insight into the practical side of the
subject, had begun to surround it with enigmatical and mystical
views, which partook rather of an attempt to construct a physical
cosmogony, than to solve a definite chemical problem. Those,
again, who still trusted in their operations, left the purely
alchemical question, and took up incidental points which would
subserve the main end, but themselves first required examination.
Accordingly, in this interval we meet with the famous adept
Nicolas Flamel, whose story is such an extraordinary one that
some writers assert, and not without plausibility, that it ^a>
Vol. XI.— No. 2. v ——
290 Philosophical Society of Glasgow.
nothing but an allegorical account of the preparation of the
philosopher's stone; and whose writings, or at least those ascribed to
him, are full of what appears at first sight to be a set of conundrums,
couched in very obscure language.
Just 400 years ago, also, lived George Ripley, Canon of Brid-
lington, Yorkshire, who worked at the Hermetic art, travelled on
the Continent and lived long in Rome, and finally returned to his
native country in 1478 in possession of the secret. He entered
the Carmelite Order, lived a very retired life, was suspected of
magic, wrote several books, one of the chief of which is the " Book
of tfie 12 Gates" spent enormous sums in the defence of Europe,
especially of the Island of Rhodes, against the Turks, and died about
1490. Through the mist of language one can see that he held the
Geberian view of the composition of the metals, but added nothing
to what was known of chemical facts. He seems, however, to
have thought that the philosopher's stone, if it could be got, would
be the best of all medicines for human ailments.
But while in the 15 th century alchemy was flourishing in the
highest degree, there was a Benedictine monk at Erfurt, who was
investigating a substance which had been known for long, but
which does not play any prominent part in the previous history of
Chemistry. This monk was called Basil Valentine, and the sub-
stance he examined was antimony.
As in previous cases, however, there is considerable doubt as to
the existence of a real person of this name at the date men-
tioned, and very considerable doubt as to the manner in which his
writings (which were concealed in a hole in a wall) were disclosed,
long after his death, by the place being opened by a thunderbolt
It seems that in the list of the friars at Erfurt, Basil Valentine's
name does not occur, so that all the rest of the story is probably
an invention, but there is no doubt about the existence of the
books, whatever may be said of their true date and authorship.
The chief work of this author is entitled the Triumphant
Chariot of Antimony, and though the author, both in it and in
other works, shows that he was quite imbued with alchemical
notions, he must have amassed an immense amount of knowledge
about bodies in general, and antimony in particular, either by his
own exertions, or by reading what others liad done. If the latter,
the authors that he consulted are no longer in existence ; but on
all accounts, it seems more correct to believe that the most of what
he describes was his own discovery.
Mr. John Ferguson on Eleven Centuries of Chemistry. 291
This work, which, with Kerkringius' Commentary, forms a small
8vo volume, was repeatedly published in Latin, English, and German.
It is very difficult to say, in these old treatises, what is original and
what has been added; but it would take a long time, in either case,
to recapitulate the facts with which this work abounds. In one word,
it contains almost every preparation of antimony that was known
up to the beginning of this century. The sulphide, oxide, chloride,
oxychloride, tartar emetic, and other compounds, can all be identi-
fied, and incidentally a great number of other bodies and reactions.
Thus, for instance, spirit of salt is mentioned, and the extraction of
metals in the wet way — for example, copper from pyrites, by
allowing it to turn into vitriol by the humidity of the air, dis-
solving the vitriol in water, and adding to the solution a plate of
iron. Were I to enter into the details given by this author, and show
you not only his facts, but his erroneous and often inverted views,
I should occupy more than the time at my disposal.
Basil Valentine is one of the most important of the names
belonging to the alchemical period. He himself claims to have
been possessed of the philosopher's stone, but his writings,
as repositories of facts, and more definite scientific insight into
reactions and into the permanency of matter, are among the
most valuable remains of the older chemical literature, and
will repay perusal by any one who is interested in seeing
how the science gradually developed. He is not only ahead
of Geber in the number of his facts, but he advanced also
in his theory of composition ; for, in addition to sulphur and
mercury, he considered salt as an element, and maintained
that these three were contained, not only in the metals, but
in other substances as well. He agreed, however, with Geber in
this, that the differences among the metals turned upon the different
proportions and different degrees of purity of their constituents.
But, on the other hand, he proposed views about relations between
the metals and the planets in a small tractate, to which, as one
writer has said, there are few parallels in its madness, even among
the writings of this period. In practical chemistry, however, he
was wonderfully skilled for his time ; for not only are we indebted
to him for a knowledge of antimony, as I have already said, but
he seems to have had some idea about qualitative analysis. At
any rate, he was able to detect several metals when mixed in small
traces with others; and points out that a good deal of the apparent
transmutation, which was used by the cheating &tahei&\?ft& <& ^ga
292 Philosophical Society of Glasgow.
time to impose upon those ignorant of metals, was the effect of
mixing metals in different proportions ; and he showed that these
mixtures contained no gold or silver.
Thus, at the end of the 15th century, during 800 years, chemists
had made distinct progress in the knowledge of different substances.
But two things remained unchanged — 1st, the aim, to transmute
inferior metals into gold and silver; 2nd, the general theory of
composition of the metals. The only advance was to include under
Chemistry other substances, and to ascribe to them the same composi-
tion. Parallel, too, with this purely scientific side of the subject,
had undoubtedly run an applied or practical side. Medical men,
alive to the importance of getting new medicines, had not been
slow to avail themselves of the newly-discovered compounds; and
hence the Triumphant Chariot of Antimony contains allusions
to the medicinal effects of the antimonial compounds.
1578. I ask you, therefore, now to pass to the next centennial
period, to 1578, and observe the changes.
In the interval a man had lived, who, deficient in learning and
training, deficient in every grace of manner, of a common, some
have said of a vicious and debased, life, had altered almost the
whole face of an important branch of science. This was Paracelsus,
who lived from 1493 to 1541. He it was who attacked and over-
threw the Galenic and Arabic medicine, who freed men from the
influence of an authority which had become an incubus, rather than
a rational help, who gave a fresh impulse to inquiry without dread
of the consequences. He it was who did away with the terrible
prescriptions of the then physicians, and introduced what were
distinctly called chemical medicines. But he did not confine him-
self to this alone. He attempted to give a rational explanation of
disease by founding on chemical actions in the body. It is needless
to say how vain this attempt was in the sixteenth, when physicians
and physiologists are not yet ready for it in the nineteenth, century;
but Paracelsus gave an impulse to the study of medical Chemistry,
as distinct from alchemy, which lasted down to the beginning of
the present century, and is well seen in the fact of Chemistry
having been almost always pursued until then by medical men, and
forming an essential part of a medical training. But Paracelsus'
views had not carried conviction universally. He was keenly
opposed by upholders of the older system, and as Paracelsus was
far from being perfect or logical in his doctrines, it was not difficult
to refute many of his positions. Still, his influence was felt in the
Mr. John Ferguson on Eleven Centuries of Chemistry. 293
impulse he gave less prejudiced physicians to examine many bodies
chemically, with the hope of discovering new and active remedies,
and if possible to explain the actions in the human economy.
The most important contributions to Chemistry under these
conditions were made by Libavius, who was born in 1560
and died in 1616. His work was done a little later than
1578, but he is the best representative of the time. He is
distinguished by his firmness and moderation, by his learning and
indomitable labour as a writer and controversialist, and also by
his success as a discoverer. In 1597 he published a treatise on
Chemistry, and in 1606 a collection of his works appeared at
Francfort in three volumes folio. These volumes contain pretty
nearly all the chemical knowledge of the time ; and as they are
furnished with very good drawings of apparatus, and also of a
laboratory, the arrangements of which are fully described, we may
regard them as forming perhaps the first text-book or manual
on general Chemistry which had appeared.
The author still upheld the doctrine of composition from salt,
sulphur, and mercury, but the importance of such vague elemental
principles was not very much insisted upon. At any rate they
were employed rather to express certain qualities or properties of
bodies than anything about their ultimate composition. But in
knowledge of the habits of bodies, and in the analytical dis-
crimination of bodies, the author was far advanced. Thus, one of
his treatises is devoted to the examination and analysis of mineral
water, and for the period — 300 years ago — is remarkably well
done. To one of his discoveries the author has given his name :
the faming liquor of Libavius. This salt, the perchloride of
tin, he prepared by distilling tin with corrosive sublimate, a
method largely used by the older chemists for getting anhydrous
chlorides.
In Libavius' time experiments were made upon dogs and cats
and other animals. Libavius remarks that these are not altogether
worthy of confidence, because animals are differently affected from
men, and even among men there are not two temperaments which
exactly resemble one another ; and it is therefore impossible that
the results should be absolute and applicable to every case. He
was very shrewd in his ideas, and he showed himself a skilled
observer in being able to recognize the identity of a substance
prepared in two different ways. Thus, he saw that sulphuric acid
got by distillation was the same as that which is formed when
294 Philosophical Society of Glasgow.
what he called the acid spirit of sulphur, dissolved in water, is
converted into the stronger and less volatile acid liquor.
You will remember that in the general course of history the
sixteenth century is one of the most notable. The spread of the
Reformation, the discovery of America, inventions and discoveries
in astronomy and other branches of physics, and the extraordinary
burst of literary genius — all these showed that some enormous clog
had been removed from the human spirit, and that it was revelling
in its newly acquired liberty. It was not to be expected, of course,
that all would share in this progress alike, but one can see an
immense advance and insight in general. The idea of science, as
distinguished from ecclesiastical and scholastic dogmatism and
authority, had struck root ; and it was formulated and worked
out by Lord Bacon at the beginning of the seventeenth century,
and dominated in the work of that century.
1678. Of all byegone periods in the history of Chemistry the
seventeenth century is one of the most remarkable. It was prolific
in the highest degree in chemical writings of every kind of merit
— from the clearest statements of facte by Glauber and Glaser and
Lemery, and the most trenchant criticism by Boyle, down to the
vaguest and most unintelligible allegories by those who still
cherished the dream of a mystical philosopher's stone.
In fact, the cultivators of the subject are divisible into several
groups, and if I just mention a few of the works which were pub.
lished about 1678 — 200 years ago — you will understand what very
different kinds of chemists there must have been.
Well, there were published in London in 1678 : —
Tlie Works of Geber, the Arabian Prime and PhilosopJier.
By Richard Russell.
Basil Valentine: his triumpliant Chariot of Antimony; with
Annotations of Theodore Kirkri7igiusf M.D. Also by
Richard Russell.
Ripley Revived; or, an Exposition upon Sir George Ri})leyJs
HernieticO'Poetieal Works; toritten by Eirenwus Phila-
lethes.
I have already spoken about Geber and Basil Valentine ; but
this third work is in the usual style of alchemical allegory, though
it contains some plain chemical processes.* Alongside of these
* BesideB these there is a swarm of alchemical works beariug date from
1660 to 1680.
Mr. John Ferguson on Eleven Centuries of Gfamistry. 295
there appeared quite a different set of chemical treatises. I need
mention only those of Glaser and Lemery, and the corresponding
little manuals of Bolnest, Thibaut, and others.* All these works
are clear, and undisfigured by alchemical notions. Their aim is to
describe the preparation of mineral and other substances for use in
medicine, and they bear the same family resemblance to one
another that the smaller text-books of the present day do among
themselves.
But the authors still believed in the composition of metals from
salt, sulphur and mercury, and worked away upon this theory
with tolerable success. It requires an effort for us to believe that
in the early years of the Royal Society such should have been the
prevalent theory, and that one of the founders of that Society, the
Hon. Robert Boyle, should have thought it necessary to argue
against these principles. This, however, he did, and so wide-spread
were these opinions that the work in which his arguments were
contained, and which was published in 1680, bears as its title
TJie Sceptical Chymist. In this work he refutes both the
Aristotelian elements and the chemical triad, and gives as the true
definition of an element that which is maintained at present.
* TVie Compleat Chymist; or, a New Treatise of Chymi&try.... Written
in French by Christopher Glaser. Faithfully Englished by a Fellow of the
Royal Society. Illustrated with copper plates. London, 1677. 12mo.
[I read a notice of G laser's Life and Works to the Chemical Section,
January 27, 1873.]
A Course of Chy wintry.... Writ in French by Monsieur Nicholas Lemery.
Translated by Walter Harris, Doctor of Physick. London, 1677. 12mo.
The Art of Chymistry: as it is now practised. Written in French by
P. Thibaut... and now translated into English by a Fellow of the Royal
Society. London, 1675. 12mo.
Aurora Chymica: or, a rational toay of preparing Animals, Vegetables,
and Minerals for a Physical Usc.Authore Edwardo Bolnest." London,
1672. 12mo.
The Curious Distillatory: or, the Art of Distilling Coloured Liquors,
Spirits, Oylsj etc., from Vegetables, Animals, Minerals, and Metals.
Written by Jo. Sigis. Esholt. Put into English by T. S. London, 1677.
12mo.
Such works are very numerous. Nor should it be forgotten that in
1675 the first bibliography of chemical books, including the first attempt to
catalogue the chemical papers in the Royal Society's Transactions, was
published at London by Will Cooper, an indefatigable labourer in the
cause of chemical literature.
296
Philosophical Society of Glasgow.
But it took very long l>efore Boyle's idea was adopted — in fact,
I question whether in the popular mind it has been adopted yet.
It exercised little or no influence on the chemical work of the
following century, and the arguments drawn from experiment
had to be put in force again for ho important a substance as
chlorine.
1778. The interval between 1678-1778 was a very eventful one.
A whole theoretical epoch is included — the epoch of Phlogiston.
Erroneous that theory may have been, but under it Chemistry
became a science, and the new substances and reactions, and general
principles and methods discovered were more than equal to those
of the preceding ten centuries. To say nothing of the discovery of
the gases, and of new metals, analytical Chemistry and technical
and manufacturing Chemistry came into existence, and the ball
which had been slowly rolling, but was gradually acquiring
increased velocity, was now bounding along without a stop. Prior
to 1778 — in 1772 — had begun the attack by Lavoisier on the
Phlogistic system. It was concluded for himself by 1778, or
shortly after, but it was some years before it had asserted its
supremacy among the chemists of Europe.
The last quarter of the eighteenth century was distinguished
not only by Lavoisier's great reform in the manner of regarding
combustion, but by a succession of chemists whose lives overlap,
and who one and all have left deep marks on the science.
Beginning with Black,
Born 1728- 1799
We have Cavendish, .
1731—1810
Priestley, .
1733—1804
Bergman, .
1735—1784
.James Watt,
173«— 1819
Watson,
1737— 181<>
Scheole, .
1742— 178(>
Lavoisier, .
1743— 1794
Berthollet, .
1748—1822
Fourcroy, .
1755—1809
Richter,
1762—1807
Vauquelin, .
17<>3— 1829
Wollaston, .
176G— 1828
Dal ton,
17oT>— 1844
Thomas Thomson,
1773—1852
Thenard, .
1777—1857
Labarraque,
1777—1850
Courtois,
1777—1838
And then in 1778 we have the illustrious names of Gav-Lussac
Mr. John Febguson oh Eleven Centuries of Chemistry. 297
and Davy — the former born on the 6th of December, the latter
on the 17th.
Rerzelius, .... 1779—1848
And the last great name of the century —
Faraday, .... 1791—1867
A century ago, therefore, there were the beginnings of modern
Chemical Science, and it has been impressed on me over and over
again, when looking at history, chronology and biography, that
there are epochs in which human genius displays itself resplendently
at once, and that there is a similarity in this respect between the
close of the sixteenth and eighteenth centuries. Remember that
it was not in Chemistry alone that there was an array of talent,
but in poetry and literature, in exploration at home and abroad,
in war — Nelson and Picton were born in 1758, Napoleon was born
in 1768, Wellington, Soult, and Ney in 1769 — in politics and
oratory, in philosophy and history, there was the same unstinted
production.
But our attention is more especially called to the fact that we
are on the eve of the centenary of the birth of Gay-Lussac and
Davy — two of the greatest discoverers in Chemical Science the
world has produced.
I need only remind you of Davy's great researches : nitrous
oxide; electric conduction and decomposition — resulting, on the
one hand, in the separation of potassium and sodium, the decomposi-
tion of the earths following as a necessary consequence, and on the
other in the electro-chemical theory; iodine and chlorine — resulting
in the extension and confirmation of the word element, the discovery
of the so-called hydrogen acids, and the important modification of
the French theory of the constitution of acids; the investigation of
gaseous explosion and of flame, and the invention of the safety lamp.
These are the contributions to science which stand out more
prominently in connection with Davy. But over and above all
this is the peculiar manner of his discoveries. He was no patient
plodder. He did not elaborate his work in minute detail. He
dashed it off in broad masses ; but just on that account there has
never been anyone to follow up his investigations. Davy's mantle
fell on no one, not even on Faraday.
Gay-Lussac's work is of a different kind. Less broad and striking,
it is of the most thorough and comprehensive kind. Though he did
not discover potassium, he invented a mode of preparing it in
298 Philosopliicai Society of Glasgow.
practical quantity. He did not at once grasp the significance of
the elemental characters of iodine and chlorine, and was not at
once prepared to accept the hydrogen acid theory, but he did at
last give in his adherence, and his monograph on iodine and its
compounds is a classical research, and exhausted the subject.
Gay-Lussac's name is indissolubly connected with the discovery
of cyanogen, the first compound and separable radical. He was
one of the first to make balloon ascents for scientific purposes. But
his greatest contribution to Chemical Science is the enunciation of
the law of volume combination, which has certainly proved the
resting place of modern theory. This law is the complement of
that of combination by weight, and it had escaped Lavoisier and
all the other chemists who had investigated the composition of
water. Gay-Lussac's researches are very numerous, and extend to
every department of the science. In especial he improved the
method of making combustions of organic substances, and intro-
duced the wet assay of silver by a standard solution of common
salt, the volumetric estimation of bleaching solutions by arsenious
acid, and alkalimetry by standard sulphuric acid. These are
only some of the discoveries and inventions with which he enriched
the science, and whether we consider his insight and calm power
of working out his results, his wide views, his dexterity as a
manipulator, and the persistence of his inventions, we can quite
appreciate and agree with Sir Humphry Davy's observation that
of all the French chemists of that time Gay-Lussac was the most
distinguished.
It is too soon, and it is hardly the place, to celebrate the centenary
of these two men of world-wide fame, but it is well to recall the
memory of those to whom the human race is indebted for its
progress, for its enlightenment, and for its well-being. From the
days of Geber until now there never have been wanting willing and
able hands to carry on the work. Some, like Davy, with everything
in their favour, with almost everything successful, loaded with
honours and gifts, and rewarded with the expressed thanks and
gratitude of those he benefited. Others, like Glauber, who toiled and
laboured and made his discoveries, but received no good of them,
was neglected and died in abject poverty and misery. It is not
for us to say what verdict will be passed a century hence on
1878. Before that time there will be a great sifting of knowledge.
I cannot help thinking that at the present moment wc have come
to a period of stagnation in almost every department of human
Mr. John Ferguson on Eleven Centuries of 'Chemistry. 299
effort — notably so in Chemistry. There is a good deal of working
up of detail, and efforts are making to strike out new paths in
theory, but the whole chemical world is in a state of back-water.
It may not be in our time, but I have little doubt that long before
the year 1978 chemical action will be regarded in a very different
way from what it is now. One can see almost already that the
formulae of statical chemistry are doomed. As expressions of
final results they may still survive for a while, but, as all chemists
know, the chemistry is not in the final balanced result but in the
transition from one state of balanced rest to another. Dyna-
mical formulae must come sooner or later, and under the influence
which they will have our present symbolic system, as an expression
of certain effects, will probably undergo a radical alteration.
Prophecy is at all times a dangerous thing to indulge in ; but
there are too many important phenomena waiting explanation
from present theory, which it seems unable satisfactorily to
supply, and when once the demand for explanation becomes more
clamant, it is easy to foresee that the present atomic views will be put
on their trial. They have done good service in the past, and have
guided chemists to important discoveries. My reading of past history
and attempt to put it before you will have been to little purpose,
if you are not prepared for the overthrow of this theory by facts
which it has itself been the means of discovering.
And now, gentlemen, in conclusion, I feel it is impossible for
me to resign this chair without thanking you for the forbearance
which you have extended to my occupation of it. I have felt on
many an occasion, that to conduct properly the business of a
Society like this required more care and attention than it was
in my power to bestow. It is my earnest hope, that this Society
will ultimately take the position to which it is entitled as the
instrument through which the great chemical industries located
in Glasgow can appeal to the scientific and learned public. But
it requires a long struggle in a period of obscurity before such a
Society can emerge to the full light of publicity, and it requires
an amount of energy and self-denial in its members which have
not yet been fully brought into play.
With this hope, I beg to reconsign to your hands the onerous and
honourable post of President, and to wish the Society all success.
Postscript, April 14, 1879. — The limits of the preceding address
prevented the subjects being treated of in detail. I have tried,
300 Philosophical Society of Glasgow.
however, to commemorate the centenary of Sir H. Davy in a
series of articles in Good Words for February and March, and in
the proximate number for May, 1879; and that of Gay-Lussac in
a Bhort article upon that chemist in the forthcoming volume of the
Encyclopaedia Britannica. The same volume will also contain
what have proved to be centenary articles on Geber and Glaser.
To these, which are contemporaneous, and in some respects more
fully developed parts of this address, I would beg to refer such of
my readers as take interest in the History of Chemical Science.
J. F.
IV. — On the Absorption of Gases by Water and other Fluids. By
James Snodgrass, Senior Assistant "Young" Chair of
Technical Chemistry.
[Read before the Philosophical Society, December 18, 1878.]
The development of modern Chemistry is closely associated with
the growth of true conceptions of the nature and functions of the
gaseous state of matter. It was not unnatural that a study of
such interest and so fruitful of results should be pursued for a long
time by experimenters, nor was it to be expected that, while other
properties of gases were studied, the phenomenon of absorption
could escape notice. Accordingly we find as early as the time of
Cavendish and Priestley this subject attracted attention. As was
to be expected, cases in which the amount of gas taken up by the
absorbent were very large were first examined. Such cases as the
absorption of carbonic dioxide by solutions of caustic alkalies, in
which not only are the amounts absorbed very large, but the gas
is permanently fixed and the quantites independent of temperature
and pressure. A distinction was early made by Dalton between
cases of this kind, and those in which temperature and pressure
influence the result. The former he distinguished as instances of
Mb. J as. Snodorass on Absorption of Gases by Water, dec. 301
cfiemical absorption — the latter as instances of mechanical absorp-
tion. It is with the latter kind, when a liquid is used as the
absorbent, I have now to deal.
Among the earliest experimenters and writers upon the subject
is William Henry. A paper by him, entitled "Experiments on
Uie quantity of gas absorbed by water at different temperatures and
under different pressures" is to be found in the Phil Trans, for
1803.
To any one accustomed to work with gases, and therefore
acquainted with the difficult nature of gas measurements, and with
the numerous corrections and precautions that must be taken to
secure exact results, the paper is of considerable interest.
The apparatus described in the paper, though of very ingenious
construction, was not capable of yielding very exact results. For
another reason Henry's experiments are inaccurate.
For the various corrections a number of constants were required,
which, when these experiments were performed, were unknown or
were at least very inexact. The correction for temperature, for
example, involves the comparison of the thermometer used with
some standard instrument, a knowledge also of the co-efficients
of expansion of glass, of mercury, and of the gas employed.
Before Regnault's time there was no standard in thermometry
that could pretend to accuracy, and the rates of expansion for
increase of temperature of glass, of mercury, and of a permanent gas
were undetermined. The labours of Regnault, and of Dulong and
Petit have overcome those difficulties, and furnished us with a
series of constants without which the execution of such a research
as I propose would be nearly hopeless.
We may, then, safely say that> with the exception of Henry's
law of pressure, but little of importance had been accomplished till
Bunsen came on the field By this time these necessary data had
been accurately determined, and the results he obtained were
therefore free of error from such a source as false data.
In the prosecution of his work Bunsen used his well-known
absorptiometer.
In one case, however — an important one — he found that his
apparatus failed. When the gas used was oxygen and the liquid
water, upon shaking up the water, oxygen, and mercury together,
the water lost its clearness and appeared cloudy. This he sup-
posed to be due to the formation of an oxide of some metal dis-
solved in the mercury, and he reasoned that, if this were so, the
302 Philotopkical Society of Glaigov:,
co-efficient of absorption obtained would be too high. He accord-
ingly repurified the mercury and repeated the experiment. This
time the opacity of the water was not so great, and a lower
number was obtained than before. The result he still considered
unreliable, and ultimately he determined the eo efficient of absorp-
tion for oxygen by an indirect method which I need not here
describe.
In the research which I purpose carrying out, the behaviour of
oxygen towards solutions of salts is likely to be of for greater
interest than that of any other gas, and most likely to lead to
suggestive results. It becomes necessary therefore to employ an
instrument which is free from the defect of Bunsen's. The appa-
ratus shown in the figure is one by which the difficulty may be
overcome. It is the device of Mr. Dugald Clerk, who invented it
for this special purpose, and so far as I have tried it, I have
found it admirably suited to the end in view.
This absorptiometer consists essentially of a glass tube divided
Mr. J as. Snodgrass on Absorption of Gases by Water, dec. 303
into three parts, a a a, by two stop-cocks, s s. It is graduated in
millimeters and calibrated. The upper part of the tube is enclosed
in a glass cylinder, c, through which a current of water may be
passed. The small thermometer, k> immersed in the water gives
the temperature. The india-rubber stoppers, i i, close the ends of
the cylinders.
In performing an experiment, the tube is completely filled with
mercury and inverted over the mercury trough, t. The gas, the
absorption of which is to be determined, is passed up into the tube,
the amount of gas employed is found by observing the volume in
the tube, and by reading upon the scale the height of the remain-
ing column of mercury above the surface level of that in the
trough, at the same time noting the temperature indicated by the
thermometer, and the height of the barometer. The liquid is
now passed in, till the mercury stands about halfway up the
portion of the tube, a. The stop-cock, s, is closed at the instant the
upper part of the tube is free from mercury. The under stop-
cock, 8, is now also closed, and the apparatus undamped and shaken
in order to hasten the absorption. The end of the tube is again
placed in the mercury trough and the stop-cocks opened for an
instant. This is repeated till no further absorption takes place.
The experiment is completed by observing the height of the liquid
and of the mercurial column in the tube, the temperature, and the
barometric pressure. From the data thus obtained, the volumes of
the gas before and after absorption, corrected for tension of vapour
of liquid and to 0° C. and 760mm- pressure, can be calculated. Let
these volumes be represented respectively by V and Yx ; let /* be
the amount of liquid contained in the tube above the upper
stop-cock, and C the volume of gas absorbed by an unit volume of
liquid ; and we have the equation : —
V-Yl
= C
h
It is essential to the accuracy of absorptiometry experiments
that the liquids used should be free from all previously absorbed
gases. This is effected by boiling, and the apparatus shown in
Fig. 2 is a very convenient one for the purpose. It is made of
glass, and consists of a bulb, 6, to which two tubes, bent as shown
in the figure, are sealed hermetically. Both tubes are sligjfcitl^
304 Philosophical Society of Glasgow.
drawn out at their extremities, and one can be closed by the stop-
cock, 8.
In using this apparatus the tube containing the stop-cock is first
filled with mercury and the stop-cock closed. The apparatus is
now placed upon its support, the end, a, dipping into a cup of
mercury, c. The bulb is now nearly filled with liquid, the open
end immersed in mercury, a lamp is placed beneath the bulb,
and the liquid boiled. When the lamp is withdrawn, upon the
condensation of vapour in the bulb, mercury flows into it. To
transfer the solution, the vessel to which we wish to transfer it
is filled with mercury and inverted over the point d; the stop-cock,
8, is turned, mercury syphons over from the cup to the bulb, and
an equal volume of liquid is drawn from the bulb to the vessel.
By means of the stop-cock, the rate of flow and the quantity trans-
ferred are completely at our command.
By using an absorptiometer of the form above described, it is
obvious that errors due to absorption of the gas by impure mercury
will be avoided. I intend, therefore, to use it in a certain research}
the nature of which I will now explain.
In all the absorption experiments that have yet been done a
considerable number of gases have been operated upon, but, so
far as I am aware, only two liquids — water and alcohol. Some
thing has also been done upon solutions of salts by carbonic
dioxide.
The object of this research is to trace, if possible, any connection
that may exist between what has hitherto been considered merely
physical phenomenon and chemical action. That such a relation
may be expected there are numerous analogies to prove. For
example — we should expect that as ammonium forms, with acids,
salts very similar in appearance to those formed by the alkaline
Mr. J as. Snod grass on Absorption oj Gases by Water, <£x. 305
metals potassium and sodium, it should also form, with water, a
soluble hydrate, and accordingly we find that it is powerfully
absorbed by water, and that the solution has strong alkaline pro-
perties. Another instance is that of carbonic dioxide. This radical
is able under suitable conditions to unite with many bases, forming
the well-known salts called carbonates; such as sodic carbonate,
calcic carbonate, <fcc. Reasoning from analogy, we should expect it
also to form with water hydric carbonates. At ordinary tempera-
tures this is not supposed to happen; but, at the same time, where
we look for chemical combination we find a large absorption, and,
as a result, a solution which exhibits all the common properties of
a salt of hydrogen. Proceeding further in this direction, one is led
to imagine that all cases of absorption may be regarded as incipient
chemical action — that, for example, the absorption of oxygen by
water points towards the formation of hydric peroxide, while the
absorption of hydrogen suggests that, under proper conditions, a
lower oxide might be formed, and so on.
It remains to be seen whether this will hold good for solutions
of salts in water.
It is a matter of some interest, therefore, to find in what
manner and to what extent a solution, say of potassic chloride, will
affect the co-efficient of absorption of oxygen. In such a research
I propose to use this apparatus.
The research is of a nature that has been regarded up to the
present time as purely physical; still it is on the border-land of
chemistry — a province as yet but little cultivated, but which is, in
my opinion, likely to prove one of the most fertile.
Vol. XI.— No. 2.
306 Philosoplncal Society of Gla&yow.
V. — New and Rare Licliem from India and Uve Himalayas.
By Dr. James Stirton, F.L.S.
[Read before the Philosophical Society, January 8, 1879.]
The lichenology of India has only been very partially in-
vestigated; indeed, with the exception of a hurried survey of part
of the Neilgherries, two or three nuclei, so to speak, in the neigh-
bourhood of the larger towns, and Sir J. D. Hooker's collections
from the southern slopes and spurs of the Himalayas, the whole
may be said in this respect to be a terra incognita.
The present collection by Dr. George Watt, Professor of Botany
in Chinsurah, was mainly secured from the immediate neighbour-
hood of his own residence, although several excursions to the
more prominent heights within a day's journey extended these
limits somewhat. A second extensive collection was made by the
same botanist from one or two of the highest summits of the
Neilgherries.
Such lichens as have been secured from the plains of India
betray a decidedly tropical character, and several genera are
accordingly largely represented, as Arthonia, Graphis, Glyphis, <fcc.
Such are, generally speaking, in a satisfactory state of develop-
ment, but not so the rest, and especially the saxicolous lichens, a
fair proportion of which is included.
At this stage of my investigations a question naturally obtruded
itself. How has this backward condition been induced? or rather,
to what can be attributed this general arrestment of development?
And here it may be as well to state, that in what follows special
reference is made to saxicolous lichens, as in such nothing, except
a few mineral elements, can be obtained and assimilated, and
accordingly all the material for development must be derived from
the atmosphere. In corticolous lichens, on the contrary, the
moisture, &c, which may be absorbed and retained by the bark
may be rendered available to the further growth and development
of the parasitic lichen. I say that such absorption from the tree
is possible, and my more recent researches tend to the view that
such is even probable, notwithstanding that almost all lichen-
ologiste maintain the contrary.
Dr. J. Stihtun on tltv LLckeuology of India. 307
In order that you may the more readily comprehend my drift,
it will be necessary in the first place to revert to one or two
tolerably well established facts in the life-history of lichens, and
1st. A 8 to their Longevity. — This longevity now scarcely admit3
of doubt. After a certain degree of comparatively rapid develop-
ment, the same patches, especially on stones, may be watched
from year to year without perceiving any apparent extension of
their limits or variation in their configuration, and at whatever
season of the year these patches are examined, mature and
immature spores in varying proportion may be detected. In
localities more or less densely shaded, or in others exposed to
more continuous moisture throughout the year, such patches are
apt to degenerate and become barren, if ever they were fertile, or
effloresce into soredioid extensions.
Such conditions cannot be said to exist in India. There is
no such degeneration seen. Apothecia, when present, are almost
invariably immature, as indicated by the spores, which are very
seldom differentiated, or, if so, in a certain small proportion of the
thecie, still give the impression to an experienced eye that they
have not reached maturity. With the exception of two or three
cosmopolitan species, as Lecanora atra and one or two Lecidese
having fuscous spores, which, from the fact of their being so
widely spread, must thrive under very varying conditions of
climate, stone after stone may be taken up and as often thrown
aside with feelings of weariness and disgust.
Again, it is well known that lichens will sustain with impunity,
or without apparent lessening of their vitality, long periods of
drought, provided they obtain thereafter adequate continuous
moisture to develop them to maturity, and the maturity of the
spores is of course necessary to the propagation of separate and
distant patches. On the supposition, however, that such floods as
occur in India are not now (whatever they may have been) of
sufficient duration to develop mature spores, lichens, and it may
be certain tribes of mosses, may be propagated for a length of
time by mere continuous extension of the patches previously in
existence. Such would seem to be the case in the instances
examined. Certain patches are seen to invade every available
space of the stone exposed to the atmosphere and light, while all
are in the arrested condition of development already indicated.
That such a condition of things as now obtains cannot have
308 Philosophical Society of Glasgow.
been prolonged for indefinite ages is in rerum iiatura a legitimate
inference — in other words, plants which had previously thriven
and developed in the usual way are now reduced to the last method
of propagation, and may accordingly be expected to become
extinct, unless the conditions of atmosphere qtid moisture are con-
siderably improved. The conclusion from this to which I wish
to draw your attention now becomes evident, viz., that there is a
broad belt of Middle India, extending generally in a south-westerly
direction, in which there is less continuous moisture than formerly
throughout the year. Whether the aggregate of moisture is
lessened or not does not come within our present scope ; but that
the floods (if heavier at all) are of shorter duration, and followed
by longer tracks of a drier atmosphere than heretofore, I am strongly
inclined to assert and maintain.
To those of you who are not conversant with the habits and
modes of propagation of such minute plants this may appear a
somewhat sweeping assertion, and one that rests on very slender
grounds. But when I find in other tracts of the earth's surface,
as in the dry mining district of Upper Chili, that corresponding
plants growing also on stones show no such retrograde action, but
in almost every instance reveal fully developed conditions, my
position is not so untenable as at first sight it may appear. Nay,
meteorological data, so far as they have gone, tend to the opinion
that the arid, almost sterile, part of Chili is lessening as time goes
on. Whereas were its atmospheric conditions becoming drier,
indications delicate but sure would have been aflbrded by the state
of vegetation of the smaller crustaceous lichens. Of course such
conditions of the vegetative processes of lichens merely tell of
present and ])ast atmospheric states (within certain limits), and
cannot from their very nature enable us to forecast in the time
sense of the term ; but as nature's operations on a grand scale are
regulated by general laws, upon whose uniformity all our calcula-
tions for the future are based, the chances are that unless a
maximum degree of dryness for this belt of India has been reached,
such dryness will increase. Moreover, if one may judge by analogy,
in the case of Syria, Arabia, and part of Persia such dryness is far
from having reached its maximum. In our estimate of the changes
produced or likely to bo produced on lichens by atmospheric in-
fluences (gradual as they generally are), we must recollect that
the same lichen may very probably last through several generations
of man.
Dr. J. Stirton on t/ie Liclcenoloyy of India. 309
In connection with this subject, it may not be uninteresting to
note that in the case of the North of Africa, including a part of
Sahara, there are not awanting indications of an increase of moisture
around its fringes ; and, in corroboration of this, recent determina-
tions of lichens in Algeria and southwards reveal a greater
completeness of the vegetative processes of the comparatively few
lichens found there.
As on a former occasion, I must leave rather hurriedly this
speculative part of my subject. My opinions may of course
undergo modifications as facts accumulate, but I have felt bound
to give expression to thern even in my present state of progress,
more especially as they have impressed me strongly, and this even
at the risk of having them ultimately upset. Besides, I think
such opinions are to a certain extent corroborated by recent
statistics of atmospheric conditions of those very parts of India I
have indicated.
In the following I have restricted myself to the diagnosis of
those lichens considered new, while in others I have merely
inserted remarks upon such as presented peculiarities of structure
worthy of notice.
Sphinctrina nitidula sp. nov.
Thallus nunc albus nonnihil farinaceus bene definitus, nunc
pallidus tenuis ; apothecia nigra nitida sessilia (latit. '1 — '2 mm.)
verruciformia, epithecio bene definito fere poriformi rotundato,
ovali vel nonnihil irregulari, ssepe albo-obducto ; spore fuscse
ellipsoidese vel oblongo - ellipsoidere 1 — septate, *005 — #007 X
•0035 - *0045 mm. Corticola, Neilgberries.
In one instance this lichen may be said to be parasitic on the
thallus of another, presumably that of a Pertusaria; in another
instance the thallus can scarcely be reckoned alien.
Tylophoron pulchellum sp. nov.
Thallus virescens vel cinereo-virescens bene e volutin*; apothecia
primum innata et albo-velata demum erumpentia sessilia vel
elevato-sessilia nigra mediocria (latit. circiter *4 mm.) plana, e
massa sporali constituta ; spore fuscte vel fusco-nigre 1 — septatse
constrictiusculae et apicibus acutiusculae, -01 - *014 x "005 - *007
mm Corticola prope Chinsurah, a eel. A. Watt lectum.
310 Philosophical Society of Glasgow,
The thallus is well developed, and contains gonidia of average
size, at times oblong and presenting a tendency to cohere in monili-
form chains.
Usnea subsordida, sp. no v.
Thallus sordide cinerascens vel pallide cervinus (K. fl.) rigid us
caespitosus papilloso-asper et saepe papillis apice sorediiformibus,
breviter fibrillosus (medulla et axis K fl. dein sanguineo-rubentes) ;
apothecia mediocria (latit. 2-4 mm.) fibrilloso-ciliata plerumque
terminalia, albidopruinosa ; spone 8n» incolores simplices late
ellipsoideae, '01 - 014 X '007 - '01 mm. Ad ramulos (Neil-
gherries).
Physcia rubricosa sp. now
Thallus ferrugineo-rubricosu8 vel fere vinosorubricosus firm us
adpressus, laciniatus, laciniis planis multifidis apicibus obtusis
crenato-incisis, margine ciliatis, ciliis nigris vel nigricantibus saepe
thyrsoideo-ramosis rigidis, subtus pallidus vel pallide nifescens
nigro-rhizinosus, intus rubricosus vel potius pallide rosellus;
apothecia fusco-nigra mediocria pedicellato-elevata, margine arete
inflexo, saepe epithecio fere rimoso-hiascente; spone (6 - 8)nae ellip-
roideae fuscae 1 - septatae nucleate, '03 - -042 x '015 - -018 mm.
Corticola (Neilgherries).
The thallus is pervaded by a substance analogous to chrysophanic
acid, and such as to give a red reaction with K.
Physcia consimilis sp. nov.
Thallus cinereus vel cinereo-virescens vel glauco-cinereo-virescens
(K. fl. C. fl. sed medulla K. -) adpressus, rugulosus, sorediis
pallidis parvis et isidiis parvis coralloideis saepe creberriter ad-
spersus, ambitu laciniatus; apothecia nigra saepissime caesio-
pruinosa, lecanorina mediocria (latit '4 - 1*2 mm.) plana, margine
albido laevigata fere integro cincta; spone 8nae fuscae simplices
vel interdum spurie 1 - septatae oblongae vel obtuse fusiformes,
•014 - -023 X '00C - O07 mm.; paraphyses distinctae graciles
apicibus fuscescentibus clavatis interdum raraosis ; hypothecium
crassum fusco-nigrum. Iodo gel. hym. intense ccerulescens.
Corticola prope Chinsurah. Affinis (forte nimium) Ph. confluenti.
I think this and the following should be separated (at least as
sub-species) from their respective allies.
Dr. J. Stirton on the Lichenology of India. 311
Pyxine cognata sp. nov.
Similis P. Meissnerii sed thallo pallide glaucescente (K. - C. -)
etiam medulla flavescente (K. — C. - ); spore 8nee fuscae oblongae
2 — nucleate saepius nucleis tubulo tenui conjunctis, rarius 1 -
septatae, -018 - -025 x '0065 - -0085 mm; paraphyses confertae
graciles saepissime valde indistinctae et tunc quasi gelatinosae
apicibus coeruleo-nigris (K. violaceis). Hypothecium fuscum vel
fusco-nigrum crassiusculum. Iodo gel. hym. coerulescens. Corti-
cola (Neilgherries).
Placodium demissum sp. nov.
Thallus pallidus vel pallide lutescens nonnihil albido-pruinosus
opacus submonophyllus, versus ambitum lobatulus vel crenato-
incisus, mediocris (latit. (#5 — 1) — pollicaris), K. vix mutatus vel
sordide flavescens ; apothecia pallide cervina vel rufescentia demum
nigricantia, adnata plana (latit. *4 - '7 mm.), margine thallino
albido fere integro interdum crenulato, demum fere excluso cincta;
sporae 8nae incolores ellipsoideae simplices, -0075 - *01 X '0045 - 006
mm., paraphyses crassiusculae non bene distinctae apicibus fulves-
centibus ; hypothecium incolor. Iodo gel. hym. coerulescens dein
fulvescens. Saxicola prope Chinsurah.
Lecanora ingesta sp. nov.
Thallus lutescens vel pallide flavescens (K. fl., C. fl.) minute et
congesto-granulosus crassiusculus determinatus (An semper?) ;
apothecia nigra vel fusco-nigra (latit. circ. *5 mm.) innata, con-
caviuscula vel planiuscula, margine albido vel pallido laevigata
cincta ; sporae (2 - 8) nae ellipsoideae incolores simplices episporio
lato, *015 - '024 x '01 - *014 mm., paraphyses graciles satis bene
distinctae apicibus conglutinatis fuscescentibus ; hypothecium
crassum fuscum, in lamina tenui visum. Iodo gel. hym. leviter
coerulescens dein fulvescens. Corticola.
This lichen is certainly closely allied to L. granifera, but the
habit is very peculiar.
Lecanora fimbriatula sp. nov.
Thallus pallidus aut nonnihil glaucescenti-pallidus, laevigatas
hinc inde rimulosus, ambitu saepe byssino-radiatus (K. fl.); apothecia
sessilia nigra plana mediocria (latit. '3 - '5 mm.), margine thallino
albo laavigato integro vel fere integro cincta; spore 8n» incolores
ellipsoideae simplices (episporio lato), '012 - *015 x "0065 - -0075
312 PhUomtpkkai Society of Glasgow.
mm., paraphyses gradles confertae non bene discrete aptdbus
nigris vel coeraleo-nigris conglutinatis, hypothecium rufescens Tel
fasco-rufescens. Iodo geL hym. caerulescens (non intense). Corticola
(Neilgherries). Affinis (at videtur) Lecanone egranukwe (XyLV
Pertusaria snbochracea sp. nov.
Thallus pallide latescens tennis fere oontinnns laevigatas (K. (L,
dein C. addito, belle rofo-aurantiacus sed C. seorsnm navens);
apothecia sparsa minnta sub-hemispluerica mono-pyrenia, ostiolo
pallido vel pallide rufescente punctiformi: spone (4 -6-S?)na?
nigresoentes ellipsoidea? simplices, 035 - 048 X <»1S — 027 mm.,
paraphyses conglutinate. Iodo theca? ooemlesoentes ; K. protoplasma
sporaram sordide violasoens. Ad ramnlos arboram (Neilgberries).
Arete affinis P. ochracea? (Krpr.) sed sporis multo minoribus,
kc
Schistostoma dehisoens gen. nov.
Thallus albidos, vix olios; apothecia nigra depressa vix pro-
minula, rotunda oblonga vel fere linearia et interdum radiatim
disposita, ssepius nonnihil albido-velata primum occlosa : epithe-
cium primo fissora coarctata (longit. interdum usque ad 1*8 mm.)
indicatum, dein apertom planum carneom nonnihil pruinosum ;
peritheciom demom marginibos evert is : spone Sna? incolores
oblongs vel oblongo-ellipsoidea? (5-7) - loculares, ssepissime
locolis semel et bis divisis, 018 - 024 X 003 - 01 mm., para-
physes distincte crass*, hjpotheciom incolor. Iodo geL hym. hand
tincta nisi navescens nee sporse sed protoplasma thecarom fulvescens.
Corticola prope Chinsurah.
This lichen presents peculiarities worthy of notice. At first the
apothecia are closed by the perithecium, whose margins imder a
Codington Lens are seen to be sharply defined and in close appo-
sition, thus forming a slit more or less prolonged. These margins
afterwards separate, and become raised and even everted. At
first this opening is partial, either in the middle or at either
extremity ; at length the whole epithecium is exposed, especially
when the black perithecium is moistened. Occasionally several
apothecia are connected in a radiating manner, when the fissures
show accordingly.
Several of the Thelotremata show peculiarities approaching those
mentioned above, bot I cannot recall any where the ostiola mani-
fest themselves in the first instance as fissures, however irregular
they may afterwards become.
Dr. J. Stirton on the LicJienology of India, 313
Ascidium exsertum sp. nov.
Thallus pallidus tenuis laevigatas fere continuus sat determinatus;
perithecia nigra nitida prominula hemisphserica (latit. *4 - *7 mm),
nuda vel saepe (basi) thallo nonnihil cincta, ostiolo rotundo minuto
(diam. *1 - -2 mm.), epithecio depresso interdum papilla obturas-
cente albida ; spone (2-4) nae incolores cylindraceee muralidivisae,
•18 - -24 x 'Oil - -015 mm.; paraphyses confertce graciles. Iodo
gel. hym. vinose rubescens vel interdum vinose rubens, prsecedente
coerulescentia. Corticola (Neilgherries).
Ascidium exsertum var. mollius, sporis (2 - 8)nis incoloribus,
•1 - '14 x '009- 012 mm., paraphysibus molliusculis gracilibus
non bene distinctis. Iodo gel. hym. leviter ccerulescens vel vix
tincta.
Of frequent occurrence in the packages from Chinsurah is a
corticolous lichen of the Lecidea luteola type, whose characters
approach sufficiently closely those of the var. fusco-rubella (Hffm.).
The spermatia are slender and arcuate, -014 - 022 x '0006 mm.
The thallus is of the usual greenish colour, but has peculiar yet
constant reactions with K., viz., greenish-yellow, then slowly
developing a ferruingous-red colour, especially near the border of
the spot moistened. The ultimate colour is aurantiaco-rufous. I
propose meanwhile calling this lichen Lecidea Chinsurensis.
Lecidea venustula sp. nov.
Thallus virescens vel pallide cinereo-virescens, tenuis nonnihil
granulosus; apothecia fusca vel fusco-nigra elevato-sessilia parva
(latit. '2 - *4 mm.) plana rugosula vix marginata vel immarginata,
intus fuscescentia ; thecse monosporse, sporaa incolores vel leviter
fuscescentes oblongse vel oblongo-cylindracese, mural idivisce, 04 -
•07 X '01 - -015 mm. ; paraphyses parcse non bene discrete fere
conglutinatre apicibus concoloribus ; hypothecium fuscum vel in
lamina crassiucula visum fusco-nigrum. Iodo gel. hym. ccerulescens
dein obscure fulvescens, sporse lutescentes. Ad Bambusam prope
Chinsurah.
Lecidea aggrediens sp. nov.
Thallus pallide cinereus rugulosus crassiusculus (K. leviter
flavescens, dein C. addito, aurantiacus, sed C. seorsum erythrinosus);
apothecia nigra adnata planiuacula marginata (latit. 6 - 1*3 mm.);
314 Philosophical Society of Glasgow.
spone 8nte fuse* 1 - septata? ellipsoidea?, variantes, "016 - -028 X
-0075 - 013 mm., paraphyses cinerasoeiites graciles non bene dis-
tinct»,graiixilo8<>inspersiefuseescenti-capitatse ; hypothecium nigrum
crassnm. Iodo gel. hym. intense ccerulescens. Cortioola (Neil-
gherries).
Lecidea incongruens sp. nov.
Thalliis nigro-cinereus furfiiraceus tenuis : apothecia adnata
minuta (la tit circ. -2 mm.) pallida vel pallide luteseentia planius-
cula, in conceptaculo pallidiore integro reeepta; spone Sua?
incolores fusiformes interclum curvula* (4-6) - nucleate?. -014 —
02 x O03 - 0035 mm., paraphyses graciles distinctae apicibos
incoloribus clavatis articulatis et interdum ramosis : hypothecium
inoolor. Iodo geL hym. baud tincta. Gonidia mediocria vel
niajuscula, diam. (O0S- 014) mm. virescentia. Corticola prope
Chinsiirah.
One cannot avoid the suspicion, notwithstanding the presence in
abundance of gonidia, that this plant is a fungus belonging to a
genus nearly allied to Peziza ; that it Ls a parasitic fungus on a
barren lichen-thallus.
Melaspilea symplecta (Strn.), ride Proc. Phil Soc., Glasg.. vol.
xL, p. 106.
Melaspilea insitiva sp. nov.
Apothecia sessilia nigra minuta (la tit *2 mm. vel minora)
planiuscula acute marginata : spone 8 me in thecis saccatis incolores
obovata? (uno apice acutiuscula?). 1 — septativ, 016 - 022 x OOS -
01 mm., paraphyses graciles irregulares satis distincta? divaricato-
ramosa? apicibus fuscescentibus : hypothecium infuscatum. Iodo
geL hym. non tincta nisi flavescens, theea? pallide fulvescentes.
Parasitica supra thallum Pertusariie leioplacse prope Chinsurah.
The paraphyses are rendered distinct by K .
Graphis coarctata sp. nov.
Thallus pallidus continuus (K. - ) crassiusculus (crassit. circ. 1
mm.) minutissime papillosus (sub lente): apothecia nigra innata
confertissima tenella (la tit. 06 - *1 mm.) dexuosa vel contorta
linearia ramosula, epithecio rimiformi; spone Sna? incolores
oblongse, interdum obovatae, (4 - 6) - loculares, 012-019 x O05
- O07 mm., paraphyses crassiuscula? distinct^ irregulares apicibus
fuscescentibus vel fere incoloribus : perithelium latorale profunduui
Dr. J. Stirton on tJie Liclienology of India. 315
fusco-nigrum. Iodo gel. hym. leviter vel obsolete coerulescens,
spore coemlescentes vel ccanileo-infuscataa. Corticola prope Chin-
siirah.
This is evidently distinct from Gr. myriocarpa (Fee).
Graphis capillacea sp. nov.
Thallus albidus vel pallidus (K. fl. dein intense et persistenter
rubens) continuus crassiusculus (crassit. *15 - '25 mm.) ; apothecia
nigra innata tenella confertissima elongata flexuosa vel contorta,
ssepe radiatim disposita; epithecium angustum rimiforme, peri-
thecium laterale tenuiusculum profundum (latit. *06 - *1 mm.),
marginc thallino lato discisso cinctum ; spore 8me incolores 8 -
10 - loculares, -028 - -04 x *007 - '009 mm., paraphyses crassae.
Iodo gel. hym. non tincta, spore coemlescentes. Corticola prope
Chinsurah. Distinct from Gr. tenella (Ach.) in the thick thallus,
reaction, <fcc.
Graphis persulcata sp. nov.
Thallus pallidus tenuis; apothecia nigra nuda prominula (latit.
•25 - 4 mm.) conferte striatula (striis utrinque 5-7) oblonga vel
elongata et flexuosa simplicia rarius ramosula, apicibus plerumque
obtusa, epithecio rimiformi, peri thee io crasso integro ; spore 8 nse
oblongo-fusiformes, 6 - 9 - loculares, *02 — 03 x '005 — -0065 mm.,
paraphyses distinctae sparsiusculae apicibus incoloribus vix clavatis ;
hypothecium nigrum. Iodo gel. hym. non tincta. Corticola.
Perhaps this is Gr. endoxantha (Nyl.), but as the spores in the
latter have not been seen rightly developed there is a doubt;
besides, the present lichen is not of a yellow colour within.
Graphis instrata sp. nov.
Thallus vix ullus visibilis; apothecia depresso-innata (in Cortice?)
radiatim ramosa vel flexuosa apice obtusa, epithecio csesio-pruinoso
concavo vel planiusculo (latit. '2 - 3 mm.), perithecio tenui laterali
rufescente; sporse 8me incolores vetustre fuscescentes, oblongse
8 - loculares interdum 6 - loculares (loculis mediis compressis
angustis, apicalibus rotundatis), *028 - '032 x '008 - #0095 mm.,
paraphyses crassiusculse sat distinctoe granuloso-inspersae ; hypo-
thecium incolor. Iodo gel. hym. non tincta, spore fulvescentes
(ccerulescentia prascedente nulla). Corticola prope Chinsurah.
The apothecia appear as if insculpted in a smooth pale buff-
coloured bark. The perithecium shows as a tbin rufous line.
316 Philosophical Society of Glasgow.
Graphis intermediella sp. nov.
Thallus glaucescens vel pallide glauoescens crassiusculus (craasit.
•2 - *35 mm.) sequabilis, fere continuus (K. - C. - ) ; apothecia
depresso-innata elongata flexuoea utrinque discissa, epithecio
angiiste rimiformi, perithecio tenui fusco vel fuscescente breviter
laterali; sporse 8nse incolores oblongse 8 - 11 - loculares plerumque
10 - loculares, '032 - *045 x *008 - 01 1 mm. iodo ccerulescentes,
paraphyses conferta) ; hypothecium incolor. Corticola prope Chin-
surah.
I have been tempted to separate this from either Gr. malacodes
(Nyl.) or Gr. glauoescens (Fe'e), as it partakes of the characters of
each. Besides, in the case of Gr. glaucescens such discrepancies
exist between the descriptions of it given by Dr. Nylander in
the various pamphlets issued by him, as to give rise to a doubt
whether such descriptions can refer to one and the same lichen.
According to M. Fee's description (so far as it goes), the present
lichen can scarcely be referred to Gr. glaucescens.
Graphis celata sp. nov.
Thallus pallid us vel nonnihil pallide glaucescens tenuis; apo-
thecia a thallo omnino obtecta, prominula (latit '2 - -3 mm.)
longa flexuosa vel contorta, apicibus obtusa, perithecio crasso
integre nigro, conferte striatulo, epithecio rimiformi ; spone 2nie
incolores obtuse fusiformes (12 - 18) -loculares, *065 - *105 X "01
- *015 mm.; paraphyses distinct® crassiusculre confertre. Iodo geL
hym. haud tincta nisi fJavescens, spone ccerulescentes. Corticola.
The number of spores in each theca varies from 1 to 3, but in
much the larger proportion there are only 2. K. has a yellow
then an orange red reaction only on the parts of the thallus close
to the apothecia, or on that covering them. Tins lichen has a
close affinity to Gr. dendroidea (Leigh t.), but there are manifest
differences e.g., the apothecia are always covered by the thallus,
and have their extremities rounded, not acute, while the spores are
much larger.
Graphis seola sp. nov.
Thallus pallide glaucescens vel pallide cinereo-glaucescens cras-
siusculus laevigatas (K. - ) ; apothecia obtecta, tota pallida, innata
vel in protuberantiis thallinis parum elevatis inclusa, elongata,
flexuosa vel radiatim disposita; sporae (1 - 2 - 3 - 4)na) lutescentes
oblongie vel ellipsoidese muralidivisae, -075 - 09 X *03 - '032
mm., majores '135 X 04C mm. ; paraphyses distinctee crassiusculie
Dr. J. Stirton on the Licfierwlogy of India. 317
apicibus late fusco-rufescentibus conglutinatis ; hypothecium fere
incolor. Iodo geL hym. ccerulescens prsesertim supra, spore
infuscatae, protoplasma thecarum vinose rubens. Thecae arthonioideae.
Corticola.
Graphis tuberculosa sp. nov.
Thallus cervinus vel pallide rufescens crassiusculus rugulosus
(K. fl. dein rubens); apothecia phlyctidea concoloria prominula
oblonga flexuosa interdum ratnosula, marginibus thallinis crassis
interrupte rugulosis cincta. Thecae monosporae, sporae ellipsoideae
vel oblongo-ellipsoideae incolores muralidivisae, -075 - #16 X '032 -
'06 mm., iodo non tinctae ; paraphyses graciles in geL firma
involutae ; hypothecium lutescens. Iodo gel. hym. passim obsolete
ccerulescens vel non tincta. Corticola.
The broad rugulose prominent apothecia present a resemblance
to those of some Phlyc tides. I have not seen a description of Gr.
pseudo-phlyctis (NyL).
Opegrapha tenuior sp. nov.
Apothecia parasitica prominula parva (latit. circ. '13 mm.)
rotundata, oblonga vel elongata (longit. '2 - *9 mm.), plerumque
simplicia, interdum radiatim disposita, epithecio rimiformi, intus
pallida vel pallide cinerascentia; sporae (4 - 8)nae incolores fusi-
formes 6 - 10 - septatae haloniata?, 04 - #06 x *006 - '009 mm. ;
paraphyses irregulares graciles, satis bene distinctae divaricato-
ramosae granuloso-inspersaj ; hypothecium fusco-nigrum tenue.
Gel. hym. iodo vinose rubens.
Supra thallum Thelotrematis cujusdam (vetusti) prope Chin-
surah.
Opegrapha laeta sp. nov.
Thallus tenuis virescenti-flavescens ; apothecia nigra prominula
rotundata, oblonga vel elongatulo-oblonga simplicia, marginata,
epithecio aperto piano ; sporae (6 - 8)nse incolores obtuse fusi-
formes, saepe curvulae 4 - 6 - septatae plerumque 5 - septata?, #028
- -036 X "006 - *008 mm., paraphyses graciles irregulares; hypo-
thecium nigrum. Iodo gel. hym. vinose rubens. Corticola prope
Nona (Hooghley).
Platygrapha atomella sp. nov.
Thallus pallidus tenuis nonnihil farinaceus (K. ft. dein auranti
318 Philosophical Society of Glasgow.
rubens); apothecia in tuberculis (latit. vix *2 mm.) thallinis parum
prominulis ssepe circumscissis inclusa, primum fere obtecta et tunc
punctiformia dein aperta, conferta et ssepe moniliformi-disposita vel
congregata ; spore 8nae inoolores aciculares vix septate, 04 - 055
X vix '002 mm.; paraphyses graciles nonnihil irregulares, apice
fuscescentes ; hypothecium tenue nigricans. Iodo thecse vinose
rubescentes vel fulvescentes, cseteroquin gel. hym. non tincta.
Oorticola in sum mis jugis Neilgherries.
Platygrapha incurvula sp. nov.
Thallus albidus vel pallidus tenuis rimulosus; apothecia nigra
sessilia rotundata oblonga vel nonnibU irregularia (longit. 25 - 1 -2
mm.), margine albo lato prominulo fere integro cincta; sporse
(4-8 ?)nce inoolores aciculares vix septate, 023 - 035 x circ.
O025 mm.; paraphyses satis distinctaa vix clavataj; hypothecium
crassum fusco-nigrum vel nigrum. Iodo gel. hym. leviter cceru-
lescens dein sordide lutescens. Corticola (Neilgherries).
Arthonia ravida sp. nov.
Thallus pallidus tenuis; apothecia parva irregularia conferta
innata fuscesentia lecanorina intus incoloria ; sporse (4 - 8)nse
incolores obovatae, utrovis apice attenuate, 1 - septate, paraphyses
irregulares indistincte ; hypothecium incolor. Iodo gel. hym.
haud tincta sed gel. subhymenialis leviter ccerulescens. Thecae
arthonioideae. Corticola prope Chinsurah. Arete aflinis A. pan-
danicolne.
The apothecia are closely set, and are often oblong or linear
and curved, <fcc.
Arthonia cinnabarina assumes in Dr. Watt's collection a great
diversity of form and appearance, but as the internal organization
is pretty uniform throughout the series, it is scarcely necessary to
attempt a definition in any case except one.
Arthonia cinnabarina (Wall).
* comitata (Strn).
Thallus virescens, vel olivaceo-virescens tenuis; apothecia rubri-
cosa sessilia parva rotundata plana albiclo-velata, saipissimc aggre-
gata intus incoloria sed purpurascenti-adspersa; spone 8 nsd incolores
vetuste fuscescentes obovate (infra acutiuscula?) 4 - 6 - septate
vel potius 5 - 7 - loculares (loculo superiori multo raajore), 02 —
03 X 007 - 009 mm. ; hypothecium incolor. Iodo gel. hym.
ccerulescens dein violacea. Corticola.
Dr. J. Stirton oil Mte Lic/tetcoloyg of India. 319
The subsequent reaction is peculiar in this as in the other form,
and the colour that approaches most closely to it is that called
" mauve. ''
Arthonia inconspicua sp. nov.
Thallus vix ullus visibilis; apothecia sessilia plana rotundata
alba vel albo-farinosa, parva (latit. '1 - *2 mm.) intus incoloria;
sporae (6 — 8)nae incolores dein fuscescentes obovatae 2 — 4 - sep-
tatae rarissime 5 - septa tee (loculo superiori multo ampliore) *018 -
•025 x '007 - -0085 mm., paraphyses valde irregulares et indis-
tinctee; hypothecium incolor. Iodo gel. hym. luteo-rufescens dein
vinose violacea. Corticola (Neilgherries).
Arthonia abnormis (Ach.)
* insita (Strn.)
The Indian specimens show little or no reaction with Iodine, and
may constitute a sub-species, more especially as a thin section of
the thalmium shows a cinereofuscous tint under the microscope.
Arthonia recedens (sp. nov.)
Thallus albus vel albidus tenuis laevigatus indeterminatus vel
subdeterminatus (iodo leviter coerulescens, K. - C. - ) ; apothecia
minuta nigricantia irregularia depresso - vel foveolato-innata, ssepe
subvelata et tunc fere incoloria, intus incoloria; sporse 8nse in-
colores oblongse vel oblongo-ellipsoideae 5 — 9 - septata? vel potius
6 - 10 - loculares (loculis subquadratis), -02 - -032 x *008 - -011
mm., paraphyses indistinctee irregulares; hypothecium incolor.
Iodo gel. hym. bene coerulescens. Corticola, satis frequens.
The young thecal are seen to be enveloped by a hirsute covering,
the mature seldom.
Cryptothecia obvallata sp. nov.
Thallus albus vel albidus tenuis lcevigatus (K. - C. - , iodo
coerulescens); apothecia nulla visibilia; thecae globosse in mem-
brana extus hirsuta (iodo coerulescente) plerumque inclusce ; sporse
8nse incolores vol dilute flavescentes oblongo-ellipsoideae, saepe
haloniataj et curvuhe 9 - 10 - loculares (loculis subquadratis), *06
- *09 X '02 — '03 mm. Iodo gel. hym. coerulescens.
Cryptothecia involuta sp. nov.
Thallus virescens vel interdum saturate viridis, nonnihil rugu-
320 Philosophical Society of Glasgow.
losus late expansus bene evolutus (K. - C. - , I leviter ccerulescens
vel - , sed I medulla bene ccerulescens) ; apothecia nulla visibilia ;
sporae (6-8) me incolores ellipsoideae saepissime curvulae, murali-
divisae, 035 - '08 x 02- -04 mm. ; thecae in saccis extus hirsutis
inclusse. Iodo neo thecae nee spore tinctae sed protoplasma
ambarum plerumque rufescens. Corticola.
Cryptothccia subtecta sp. nov.
Thallus cinerascens tenuis nonnihil farinaceus (C. — ; I - ) ;
thecae plerumque prominulae sparsae; spore 8nae incolores ellip-
soideae (episporio tenui), 6 - 9 - loculares (loculis 2 - 4 - divisis),
•028 - -04 x 018 - -022 mm. Iodo gel. hym. non tincta, Cor-
ticola in horto Dris. Watt, prope Chinsurah.
Tlie spores are perfectly elliptical, with thin walls, and appear
as if septate, with the divisions finely divided by 3 to 5 sections.
The thecaa are very generally globose, and have the usual hirsute
covering. The only specimen in possession is small, and the
surface appears as if abraded.
Verrucaria arctata sp. now
Thallus albus vel lacteus mollis nonnihil squamuliformis ; apo-
thecia majuscula globosa vel fere ampullacea (i.e. collo infra
ostiolum producto et arctato) immersa integre nigra (perithecio
tenui) extus ostiolis nigris solum visibilibus sicut in Decampia
Hookerii ; spone (6 - 8)na* incolores, vetustae fuscescentes ellip-
soideae, 1 - septata) saepius e regione scptorum constrictiusculae,
•035 — '045 X '014 - '02 mm., paraphyscs distinctac longae confertie
molliusculae. Iodo thecae vinose rubescentes vel vix coloratae.
Ad cortices (vetustiores).
Verrucaria Nonensis sp. nov.
Similis V. conothelense (Nyl.) sed thallus albidus vel pallidus,
apothecia dimidiatim nigra, (latit. "2 - *3 mm.); si>ore fusciv
obovatae 1- septata*, *014- -018 x '0055 - 0065 mm. et para-
physcs breves nonnihil irregulares interdum ramosae. Corticola
(Neilgherries).
The spores are obovate, with one loculus larger and broader than
the other, and somewhat constricted at the septum.
Verrucaria clavaeformis sp. nov.
Thallus macula pallida indicates; apothecia primum thallino-
Dr. J. Stirton on the Lichenology of India. 321
velata demum denudata (saltern supra), dimidiatim nigra (latit.
•3- *5 mm); sporo 8n» fuscae obovate insequaliter 1- septate
(loculo superiori multo majore et rotundato, inferiori acutiusculo
et triangularis -03 - -038 x '01 - 013 mm., paraphyses breves
nonnihil irregulares sed distincte. Corticola (Neilgherries).
The spores have a singular outline, thus jQ
Trypethelium oblitescens sp. nov.
Thallus lurido-vel cinereo-virescens laevigatas bene evolutus;
apothecia plura in tuberculis irregularibus majusculis (latit. usque
ad 3 mm.) prominulis, intus aurantiaco-rufis vel lateritiis inclusa
vel immersa, peritheciis globosis integre nigris tenuibus; spor»
8nae oblongae incolores demum fuscescentes, 4 - loculares, 016 -
•02 x "006 - O07 mm., paraphyses longse filiformes distincte sat
conferte. Iodo geL hvm. leviter vel interdum obsolete ccerulescens.
Corticola.
The apothecia are scattered pretty thickly in the red stroma of
the tubercles, and it is only occasionally that they are confluent,
while the small prominent ostioles are almost always distinct and
separate. This lichen may accordingly be a Verrtuwria.
Trypethelium refertum sp. nov.
Thallus macula pallida vel pallido-carnea indicatas; apothecia
(1-4) in verrucis fusco-nigris parvis (latit. *4 - *9 mm.) depressis
vel parum prominulis inclusa, ostiolis parvis massa rubricosa
granulosa occlusis, peritheciis (propriis) globosis integre nigris
tenuibus; sporse 8n® incolores vetuste fuscescentes, ellipsoide®
vel fusiformi-ellipsoideae, plerumque 5 - loculares, interdum (4 - 6)
- loculares (loculis polygoniis, mediis interdum semel divisis), *02
- 028 x '01 - *013 mm.; paraphyses conferte molliusculse, in
massa leviter fuscescentes. Iodo gel. hym. haud tincta. Corticola.
Platysma Thomsoni sp. nov.
Thallus albidus vel pallido-albidus (K. fl.) tenuiter membrana-
ceus rigescens mediocris laciniatus, laciniis plerumque adscendenti-
bus margine sinuatis, dentatis vel dissectofimbriatis, subtus niger
et nigro-rhizinosus ; apothecia spadiceo-nigra mediocria (latit. 3-7
mm.), ssepe medio perforata, receptaculo extus lseviusculo et mar-
gine tenui ; thecse monosporse, sporse incolores ellipsoidese, episporio
crasso hyalino, contentis lutescentibus granulosis, '035 - 05 x '018
- *025 mm. Iodo thecse coerulescentes. Spermogonia marginalia
Vol. XI.— No. 2. y
322 Philosophical Society of Glasgow.
nigra prominentia verruciformia magna (latit -15 - *3 mm.); sper-
matia recta, vix constricta, -004 - -005 X 00085 mm., sterigmati-
bus longis articulatb infixa. Corticola prope Darjeeling. Medulla
K-C-.
This is rather an anomalous species, and might well be made
the type of a new genus. Its parmelioid habit is remarkable.
The thecse are always situated at the base of the thalamium, while
the appearance of the spores affords a suspicion that they have not
reached maturity. Nevertheless, apothecia are present at various
stages of development, and in none is there shown any tendency
in the granular contents of the spores to become differentiated
into others.
Physcia incana sp. nov.
Thallus albidus vel pallido-albidus vel interdum pallide lutescens
laciniato-divisus (K fl.), laciniis brevibus adscendentibus oonvexis
(latit circ 3 mm), margine ciliatis (ciliis albidis vel interdum
nigrescentibus validis arbusculose divisis vel fere thyrsoideo-
ramosis), subtus purius albus nudus farinosus; apothecia caefiio-
pruinosa mediocria (latit. 2 — 4 mm.) pedicellato-elevata, receptacuio
nudo (i. e. absque ciliis) et margine late membranaceo crenato-inciso,
supra farinoso, saepe inflexo cincta; spore 8nse fuscae 1 -septate
breviter ellipsoidese, 034 - -044 X *02 - -03 mm. Iodo gel hym.
intense ccerulescens prasertim thecse. Corticola prope Darjeeling.
Arete affinis P. comosae.
The cilia are entirely confined to the margins of the lacuna?.
The two preceding are from a fine collection of f oliaceous lichens
in the possession of Mr. J. A. Thomson of this city, who secured
them several years ago from the Himalayas near Darjeeling.
Mr. James Thomson on a New Genus of Rugose Corah. 323
VL — On a New Genus of Rugose Corals, from the Carboniferous
Limestone of Scotland. By James Thomson, F.G.S., Corres-
ponding Member of the Royal Science Society of Liege,
Belgium, and Honorary Member of the Royal Ducal Society
df Jena, Saxony.
[Bead before the Society, Jannary 8, 1879.]
Genus Histiophyllum,* Thomson, Gen. Nov.
From histion, a web; tak&pkyUum, a leaf.
Generic Characters. — Corallum simple, cylindro-conical, moder-
ately tall, and slightly curved. The epitheca is usually thin, there
are annulations, and in some forms delicate encircling lines of
growth; the calice is usually shallow, and more or less everted,
and the centre of its floor is occupied by a boss, which is slightly
raised above the inner margin of the primary septa, on the dorsal
or convex side, and more or less depressed or concave on the
ventral side. The lamellae pass from the inner margin of the
primary septa inwards. Those of the convex side extend for two-
thirds of the width of the columellarian area, where they coalesce,
and form a more or less irregular rod, which in some forms stop
short of the septal fossula (PL I., Fig. 1, DPI. IX, Fig. 3); whilst
in others the lamella? converge inwards and downwards into the
depression, and are attached to a latro-median plate, which more
or less extends into the fossula on the ventral or concave side of
the corallum, which in outline resembles a fan. (See PL I., Fig. 2.)
In a corallum of an inch and a half in diameter, the columellarian
area is about five lines broad.
The septa are well developed, and of two orders — the primary
never extending further inwards than the outer margin of the
central area, and exhibiting laminae for half their length from
* I beg to offer my thanks to Prof. H. A. Nicholson, M.D., D.Sc,
F.R.S.E., for suggesting the name for this group of corals.
324 Philosophical Society of Glatgota.
their inner ends, while towards the periphery they are thin, and
more or less flexuous, and the secondary septa are considerably
shorter, and sometimes hardly recognisable.
They are united by interseptal dissepiments, which are sparse,
and more or less rectangular near their inner ends, but usually
Abundant, and angular towards the periphery.
There is a well marked septal fosnula —
Mr. James Thomson on a Sew Genus of Rugose Corah, 325
Longitudinal section exhibits the triareal arrangement of the-
internal structure. The central area is composed of thin discon-
tinuous lamellar plates, which are united by more or less remote
tabulae, which are usually slightly convex on the dorsal and
concave on the ventral side of the corallum. The intermediate
area (" interlocular area ") is occupied by convex tabulae; convexity
upwards and inwards, and which unite the inner ends of the
primary septa. The outer area (" interseptal area ") is occupied by
a zone of irregular lenticular convex cells, convexity upwards and
inwards, and arranged in obliqne rows.
The genus which I propose establishing is for the reception of
a group of corals that has been known to me for the last fifteen
years. They form a natural and intermediate group between the
genus KoninckophyUum, and the genus fihodophyllum, and some
of the species present characters in some respects that belong to
the genus Aspidiophyllum. In some of the forms there appears
to be so natural and intimate a relation to either of those genera,
that I have long hesitated to create for their reception a distinct
and separate genus. Indeed, before I finally determined to sepa-
rate them, and place them into a distinct group, I submitted a
number of varieties to several of our ablest palaeontologists,
both Continental and British, and more especially to my friend
Mr. Robert Eatheredge, Sen., F.R.S., London.* He had them for
some time, and carefully examined them, along with a considerable
number of other genera that have been established, as well as
others that are yet to be considered. The present group he marked
with the letter G, as being distinct and separable from all existing
genera. As has been formerly stated, f it is often difficult to define
the boundary line between each genus and its nearest allies, and
in none more than the group under consideration; yet, after
careful observation, I believe that the intermediate forms may be
classed into a natural and distinct genus. Therefore, while we
have thus examples which might be referred to either of the
allied groups, I have, however, selected from amongst upwards
of sixty varieties central types, from which the groups diverge in
different directions. Some of the types are cut at six different
parts of the corallum, in order to know if the generic and
specific characters were continuous from the superior to the
* To whom I beg to offer my cordial thanks for aiding me in classifying
this group.
t British Association Transactions, 1872, p. 241.
326 Philosophical Society of Glasgow.
inferior extremity of the corallum; as I am aware that structural
differences do present themselves, arising from injury and other
causes during the life of the polyp. (See PL III., Fig. 4.) Such,
however, is exceptional. In the great majority of cases the
structural characters in the central area, in the earlier stages of
growth, are usually the prototype of the mature corallum — unless
in Buch cases as those where the growth has been interfered with,
and in passage forma Indeed, I have adopted that precaution in all
groups that have passed through my hands — a precaution all the
more necessary from the fact that, during the life and secretion of
the sclaradermic matter by the polypi, numerous incidents might
intervene which would give rise to altered conditions; as each
condition would produce structural differences, which would be
misleading, and calculated to provoke the introduction of unneces-
sary and duplicating species. In Plate III., Fig. 4, we have a
good example of how the structural characters can be affected.
As above stated, there are intermediate forms in all the groups,
which present characters that closely link them to other genera.
Such forms I have carefully set aside until I am able to carry out
my proposed method of arrangement, when I hope to show so
close a relation between each genus and its next ally, that even
the greatest opponent of the doctrine of evolution will find con-
siderable difficulty in drawing the boundary line. Yet I am
persuaded that, for purposes of classification, it is necessary to
select and group such intermediate forms as form central links in
a continued series.
The genus HistiophyUum agrees with Koninckophyllum, in the
possession of a central rod in some forms, and with Rhode-
phyUum and AspidophyUvrnt, in the possession of a large central
area, the superior extremity of which projects more or less above
the inner ends of the primary septa.
The structural details, as exhibited in the central area of the
corallum, I believe are sufficient to warrant us in separating
Hi8tiophyllum from either of the above genera, and I shall now
point out wherein they differ from each other.
Firstly, — The genus Koninckophyllum is distinguished by the
possession of a compact and laterally compressed styliform colum-
ella in the centre of its floor, which in longitudinal sections forma
a thin median line, which is usually continuous from the superior
to the inferior part of the corallum ; and the space between the
columella and the inner ends of the primary septa is occupied by
Mr. James Thomson on a New Genus of Rugose Corals. 327
tabulae, which are flat in some forms, whilst in others the tabulae
are slightly raised near the columella in the central area (see
PL III., Fig. 6a), which, as seen in a transverse section, forms a
a compact median rod, and is often surrounded by a few irregular
sub convolute lines. The latter represent the cut edges of the
successive tabulae, as they become elevated in the vicinity of the
columella (PL III, Fig. 6).
Secondly, — In the genus RhodophyUum the central area is
formed of vertical lamellae, which are sub-convolute, and fold
round an imaginary axis (PL III., Fig. 1), and present a round
boss in the centre of the floor of the calice, which, in a transverse
section, is seen to be united by tabulae more or less remote. In a
longitudinal section the lamellae are discontinuous, and directed
outwards and upwards, and united by concave tabulae.
Thirdly % — In the genus Aspidophyllum the boss in the centre of
the floor of the calice is helmet-shaped, which is round on the
superior extremity on the concave side (PL III., Figs. 2 and 2a),
and tapering down to the fossula, which is usually situated on the ,
convex or dorsal side of the corallum, and there is a median
lamella, which passes for two-thirds of the breadth of the crown of
the helmet-shaped boss, and downwards into the fossula as a
prominent ridge.
With these points of resemblance, there are the following
differences to be noted in the forms respectively referable as allied
to the genus HistiophyUum: —
(1.) In Koninckophyllum there is a compressed median rod,
and the space or central floor of the calice is occupied by tabulae,
which in some forms are flat, whilst in others the tabulae are more or
less raised towards the columellarian rod; while in those forms
of HistiophyUum that are allied, the columellarian rod extends to
the fossula on the ventral side of the corallum (PL IEL, Figs.
5, 5a, and 5b), and the tabulae are more or less intersected by
lamellae, which converge and coalesce with the latro-median plate on
the ventral side of the corallum, and present in the floor of the
calice a more or less dome-shaped aspect on the dorsal, and
concave on the ventral side of the corallum. It is noteworthy
that, in all the forms I have yet examined, the development of the
lamellae begins eta the concave or ventral side of the corallum, and
when the columellarian rod extends to near the fossula, we
frequently have present the lamellae in the first stage of develop-
ment on the dorsal side of the columellarian rod, a characteristic
328 PkUo§opkusal Society of Glasgow.
which is usually present in those passage forms in which the
KonmekopkyUum type predominates (PL ITL, Fig. 4).
(2.) In Rhodophyllum, the boss in the centre of the floor of the
calice is round in outline, and formed by sub-convolute lmm^lW
(PL IIL, Fig. 1), whilst in the allied forms of HMophyQum the
lamellae are more or less sub-convolute on the dorsal, and converge
to the ventral side of the central area, where they descend and
pass down into the fossula on the convex side of the corallum
(PL L, Figs. 1, 2, and 3; PL II, Figs. 1a, 1b, and \c\
(3.) In AspidophyUum, the calicinal boss is prominent and
helmet-shaped in outline (PL ELL, Fig. 2), and the median
lamella passes over the boss for two-thirds of its width, and
descends into the fossula in the dorsal side of the corallum, and
in a longitudinal section the central lamella is single, and
continuous from the superior to the inferior portion of the
corallum, and the lamella? converge towards the centre of the
floor of the calice. While, on the other hand, in the allied forms
of Ifisliophyllum the median lamella extends slightly beyond the
centre of the central area, the lamellae are more or less sub-
convolute, and converge to and coalesce with the latro-median
plate, and the boss in the centre of the calicular cavity is scarcely
raised in some forms, and in others slightly raised above the inner
ends of the primary septa on the dorsal, and depressed on the
ventral side of the corallum, and the false columellarian rod is
more or less double, a result produced by the sub-convolute
lamella? converging and coalescing with the Intro mesial plate
that descends into the depression on the ventral side of the centra]
area, where it passes more or less into the fossula on the convex
side of the corallum.
In the genus HistiophyUum the central area is occupied by a
boss, which is slightly raised above the inner ends of the septa on
the convex side of the corallum, and formed of sub-convolute
lamellae, which extend for two-thirds of the width of the central
area, and converge to a latro-median plate, which bends sharply
downwards, and passes more or less into the septal fossula, on the
concave side of the corallum, so that, in a transverse section, the
cut ends of the lamellae assume a more or less fasciculate or web-
shaped aspect, and expand towards the outer margin of the central
area on the convex side of the corallum (PL I., Figs. 1, 2, and 3;
PL II., Figs. 1, 1a, and 1b). In those forms that are closely
allied to Koninekophyllum, the latro-median plate extends inwards
Mr. James Thomson on a New Genua of Rugose Corals. 329
to the centre of the central area, and the lamellae are thin and
indistinct, and in a longitudinal section expose a columella
composed of two vertical rods, arising from the union of the
lamellae on the concave side of the corallum, and the lamellae are
intersected by tabulae, which are more or less remote.
In another -variety of Histiophyttum, which in some respects
are related to Rhodophyllum, the boss in the centre of the calice
is more or less dome-shaped on the convex side of the corallum,
and raised above the inner ends of the septa ; while in the con-
cave side of the corallum a portion of the central area is concave,
and the lamellae converge inwards and downwards, coalesce, and are
intersected by a latro-median plate, while in a transverse section
the lamellae are more or less sub-convolute on the convex side of
the corallum, and usually for two-thirds of the width of the central,
while on the concave side a portion of the central area is concave,
and the lamellae converge downwards, coalesce, and are intersected
by the latro-median plate, which passes more or less into the septal
fossulae on the ventral side of this corallum (PI. L, Fig. 1 ;
PI. III., Fig. 3a). In a longitudinal section of this variety the
lamellae are irregular and discontinuous, and united by tabulae,
which are more or less convex on the dorsal and concave on the
ventral side of the corallum (PI. I., Fig. 1a).
In another variety of Htstiophyllum, the boss in the centre of the
floor of the calice is slightly vaised above the inner ends of the
septa on the dorsal, and concave on the ventral side of the corallum,
and the latro-median plate usually extends beyond the centre of the
central area. In a longitudinal section there is a continuous,
apparently double columellarian line, rendered double by the
fusion of the lamellae, which converge into and coalesce on each
side of the central area, and the tabula are more or less convex on
the dorsal and concave on the ventral side of the corallum (PI. I.,
Figs. 3 and 3a).
In all cases the central area is more or less raised above the
inner ends of the septa on the dorsal and depressed on the ventral
side of the corallum.
The combination of characters presented in HistiophyUum is such
as to place the distinctness of the genus beyond doubt — the
convex aspect of the dorsal and the concavity on the ventral side
of the central area, which in a transverse section is more or less
fasciculate. The lamellae, which converge, and form the latro-
median plate usually on the ventral side of the corallum, and expand
330 Philosophical Society of Glasgow.
towards the dorsal aide of the oondlmn, and become more or leas
web-ahaped towards the inner ends of the primary septa in the
dorsal side of the central area, are sufficient to warrant us in
creating a new genus for their reception.
Histiophylluni. Ramsayi. Sp. nov.
Plate I., Figs. 1 and 1a.
Specific Characters. — Corallum simple, cylindro-conical, curved,
and moderately tall; epitheca thin, with delicate encircling striae,
and shallow annulations of growth; calice shallow, and the central
area is occupied by lamellar ridges, which are slightly raised above
the inner ends of the primary septa on the dorsal and depressed on
the ventral side of the corallum. The septa are of two orders, the
primary are lamellar for two-thirds of their length from their inner
ends, when they become single, delicate, and flexuous towards the
periphery, and the secondary septa are about a line and half long.
They bend at their inner ends and become attached to the primary
septa. There are 64 primary and an equal number of secondary
septa, and each is united by irregular and angular interseptal
dissepiments. The central area is circular, and seven lines in
diameter, and in a transverse section exhibits the cut ends of the
vertical lamella;, which are sub-convolute, and converge towards
the fossula on the ventral side of the corallum, where they more or
less coalesce, and form an irregular rod, which passes to near the
fossula. The longitudinal section is triareal; in the central area
. there are thin discontinuous columellarian lines, and each is united
by irregular minute tabula;. The intermediate ("interl ocular")
area is occupied by convex tabula;. The outer (" interseptal") area
is occupied by irregular lenticular convex cells, convexity inwards
and upwards, and arranged in oblique rows. The fossula is small,
and two of the primary septa in it are of shorter length than the
others ; and a portion of the central area passes into it.
Height of corallum, 5 inches; diameter of section, 1£ inch.
Formation, Carboniferous; Locality. — Found in a bed of shale,
which is interstratified with the thin bands of limestone which
characterize the upper members of the lower carboniferous lime-
stone in the West of Scotland. Found at Brockley, near Lesma-
hagow, Lanarkshire. This species